Hyperdimension Neptunia: Overload
by BreadNotDead
Summary: Overlord Momus was only a fake myth made-up by Arfoire. As it turns out, he's real. OCx? (Takes place after the True Ending of Victory)
1. Chapter 1 - Tutorial

_DISCLAIMER: The author of this story doesn't own anything. Sad, but true._

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 **HYPERDIMENSION NEPTUNIA: OVERLOAD**

CHAPTER ONE

》START

It was utter devastation.

Everything was destroyed beyond repair.

Various craters filled the ground. The entire earth looked like it was split in half.

It was as if the entire place had just been used as a battlefield.

...Actually, it is.

Three people - or at least their forms resembled a human's - were surrounding a figure. It was kneeling on the ground with one knee, looking exhausted.

"...Grrh... like I would admit defeat in a place like this..." says the **Wounded Dude in Armor**.

"Hah, as expected of you. Even after facing all three of us, you still have some energy left," a **Skimpily-dressed Lady** says in a haughty tone.

An **Old Guy with a Beard** looks on with a stern expression settling upon his baggy and wrinkly face. "His title of strongest Overlord is not simply for show. I have to say I am impressed you had lasted this far. But alas, even you have your limits."

"Hahahahahahaha! You had it coming! With you gone, I'll be taking your title as the strongest! NOW SHRIVEL UP AND DIE!" The third one, arguably the youngest out of the three of them, was a man with a crazy look in his slanted eyes, who will be labelled as the **Arrogant Prick**.

The **Wounded Dude in Armor** , through extremely weakened, continues to persevere. "If you think I am simply going to let you lot finish me off here so easily, then you thought wrong! If I die, I will be taking you all with me! Huuuaaaarrrghh!"

Suddenly, the ground started to shake. A massive burst of power was starting to rise from within the **Wounded Dude in Armor** and was threatening to be released.

"Hah? What the he-"

"No way... is he planning to...!?"

"...This is not a good sign. Unless we find some way to subdue him, he will doom us all! This calls for drastic measures! We will have to seal him off!"

"But that's boring! I wanted to see him die!" the **Arrogant Prick** pipes up.

"If you want to meet a pathetic death so badly, then by all means, go ahead," the **Skimpily-dressed Lady** retorts.

"Grr..."

As a strong aura was gathering around the three of them, a large rune appeared beneath the **Wounded Dude in Armor**.

"Wait... what're you-!?"

"Begone from this world, Momus!" the **Old Guy with a Beard** thunders.

The large rune started to emit an incredibly bright light, seemingly enveloping the **Wounded Dude in Armor** 's figure, putting a halt to his attack. Before the light could completely swallow him, he let out his final words:

 _ **"DAAAAAMN YOU AAAAALLLL!"**_

His last words were filled with agony.

The sheer rage he felt at this utter defeat was filling every fiber of his being. He will no doubt return to exact his vengeance to those very beings who dared to cross him.

For he is Momus, the Overlord of Destruction.

And it so happens, he is the fated protagonist of this story. God help us all.

* * *

"...grrk..."

He could feel a throbbing pain in his head. He attempted to clutch his head to try to hold it steady, but found difficulty in moving any of his limbs.

"Guh..."

Wearily opening his eyes, the first thing he saw were various twinkling lights in the black sky above.

"So it is nighttime I see..."

But of course it is. What time other than night would the stars be visible?

"-! W-what in the-owowowow!"

Whoa there, don't just stand up so suddenly. Your body's still sore.

"Guh... why is my body in a state like this? It feels like as if I had taken a long nap and had just woken up..."

Actually, you guessed correctly.

"What do you mean by that, you invisible creature? I demand an explanation!"

Okay, first off, I am not an "invisible creature". I am the all-knowing, all-seeing person meant to witness and describe every single meaningless detail of your life, thoughts and actions in the most interesting way possible. In other words, I am the narrator of this story!

"Oh, so you are a storyteller of some sorts. I see. But you still have not answered my question."

Yes, I was just getting to that. Anyways, you have indeed been asleep for a long time. It actually happened a page ago, but you got sealed away by those three beings. You've been asleep this entire time, and only woke up now.

"...Sealed... three beings... Ah, that's right! How could I have forgotten such a crucial detail?! Those three fools had the gall to challenge me to a fight and resort to such a cowardly tactic by sealing me away! I must give them the appropriate retribution!"

Yes yes, I already mentioned on how their actions got your rage with that over-dramatic intro. But how are you going to do that with the way you are?

"Whatever could you possibly mean by that, All-Knowing One? I will deal with my enemies like I always have! By crushing every bit of their puny bones and annihilate everything to oblivion!"

...With the way you are now?

"Why do you keep on repeating your words in such a manner? Do you doubt my power? With one mere movement of my finger, I can send this entire forest to burn for all its worth! Hyaa!"

...

...

"W-WHAAAAAT. IS. -THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS?!-"

Ah, so you finally realized.

"M-my body... it's..."

I can't believe it only took you this long to see of what had become of you, but for our reader's sake I shall explain. Instead of being the intimidating, badass Overlord he should be, what is currently standing before me is a normal-looking red-eyed boy with a black skin-suit, walking around in the middle of a forest barefoot. Not to mention, a completely hard to miss fact is that gigantic antenna* sticking out from the top of his hair.

"Antenna? I cannot help it if it is part of my biological structure! That fact aside, how did my physical body deteriorate to such a state?! My powers do not seem to be responding to me, and why do I look so... eergh, human?"

Well, because you were sealed away for so long, your powers seemed to have gradually lessened as time passed by, therefore reducing you to that human-like appearance. Rest assured though, that you do have enough strength to combat normal foes.

A sudden rustling in the nearby bushes alerted him of somebody else's presence. A small bluish creature came bouncing out, just stopping within a few meters in front of the boy, its tongue sticking out playfully with its body constantly sloshing with every movement it made.

"What is this peculiar... creature?"

Hoh, a [Dogoo] I see. They are one of the most common enemies in this ga-er, story. For this monster to appear at such a convenient time... this could only mean that a [Tutorial] is in order!

"A what-"

 **TEACH ME, NARRATOR!**

 **\- COMBAT SYSTEM -**

Combat is all but a simple process. When you see an opponent in front of you, inflict every single amount of pain onto it until it fades away from existence.

(Of course, depending on the cutscene, the opponent may not necessarily disappear entirely)

(Also, for sensitive souls out there, monsters are made entirely out of data and will re-spawn in a set amount of time. So fear not, and have fun battling!)

"Hmph, no matter. Even in this weakened state I am in, such an insignificant creature is no match for me! Come, Diabolus!"

Thrusting his hand out in front of him, the very ground seemed to have distorted as a black portal swirled about, a demonic-looking sword rising from out of it. He grasped it on its hilt and cleaved it through the air as a showmanship of its power.

"Have at you!*"

 _ **BATTLE START!**_

Dashing forward with his sword at hand, he slashes at the Dogoo.

◇One!

□Two!

○Three!

The Dogoo recoils from the impact of the sword, but retaliates with a tackle. He blocks its attempt with his sword, and counters with a great slash. It sends the monster pummeling to the ground, bursting into bits of data.

 _ **\+ VICTORY! +**_

Resting his sword on his shoulder, the boy merely scoffs at his defeated opponent.

"Hmph, the results were as expected."

Oh, good, you've got the basics down. Now let's see you use [Skills]!

"Wait, why do I need to go through such a thing?!"

That's the way this world works. Tutorials are inescapable!

Three more Dogoos then conveniently popped out from the bushes. Forcing down his growing irritation, the boy readies his sword in front of him to face down his new opponents.

 **TEACH ME, NARRATOR!**

 **\- SKILLS -**

Skills are a set of special moves you can use to deal more damage to your opponent. Some skills have elemental effects added upon them, so be sure to examine your enemies' weak-points and use your skills effectively!

(Unfortunately, because of your status as Overlord, you cannot learn healing skills. However, do not be discouraged! That is why healing items exist! Take care and try not to die now!)

 _ **BATTLE START!**_

There were three of them, so he figured it'd be quicker to deal damage on all of them at the same time.

" _[Dark Edge]_ "

Dark energy started to coat around the sword, releasing a rather ominous aura around it. Once the process was finished, he dashed forward and slashed the sword horizontally. As the sword hit the three Dogoos, he could feel it eating away at its opponent's health and some energy returning back to him.

Though dazed for a brief moment, the Dogoos surged forward and simultaneously tackled the boy. He only managed to dodge one of them, while the other two's attacks successfully connected. Letting out a frustrated grunt at the impact as he was pushed back, he wipes away some of the goo that got stuck on his clothes when they made contact.

"Ergh, what viscid creatures! They most definitely live up to their namesake... I must take caution when engaging them to avoid this inconvenience... best to end this as quickly as possible! _[Consuming Shadow]_!"

His sword morphs into a larger size, resembling a monster's mouth, and quickly feasts on the Dogoos. After it is done, the sword transforms back to normal as the bits of data show the remains of the monsters.

 _ **\+ VICTORY! +**_

"Hah, I am well aware of the limits my abilities possess. Though it is a disadvantage to not be able to heal, I simply rely on gaining my enemies' energy instead."

Hohoh, well I suppose I should have seen that coming with your character and all. But most likely because of your lessened strength, it only sucks out a minor amount of your opponent's health. I advise you not to rely on it too much.

Sighing, the boy loosens his battle stance.

"...Is it done yet? I grow tired of all these pointless teachings."

They're not utterly pointless, they let you show off at the very least. This next one will allow you to execute your [EXE Drive Skills]!

"There is more?!"

The boy tensed as he felt a stronger presence approach. The ground was slightly shaking with each step the monster took. Once it finally appeared however, he could feel the dread that was filling up his body at the sight of it.

"...It's gigantic..."

Yes, this is a [Giant Dogoo], a type of Dogoo monster that takes shape after various Dogoos fuse together. Though it still retains it's adorable appearance, do be warned that it's a lot deadlier than the normal type of Dogoo.

"Aagh, fine, I shall yield to this farce a bit longer. The bigger the monstrosity, the harder it will plummet to the ground like the feeble creature it is!"

 **TEACH ME, NARRATOR!**

 **\- EXE DRIVE SKILLS -**

EXE Drive Skills are extremely powerful attacks you can unleash upon your foes for massive damage. However, using these skills requires filling up the [EXE Gauge], a meter that will gradually increase as you are in battle.

(I predict this battle will be a rather... messy one, so be sure to fill up the gauge as quickly as you can. Take care!)

 _ **BATTLE START!**_

The boy could not helped but feel disgusted at the gigantic piece of gelatin, remembering the goo that would get stuck in his clothes at the previous battle. Frankly, he did not like the way its gooey substance clung to his clothes and made him sticky. It was very uncomfortable. He wanted this battle over. And fast.

" _[Shadow Slash]_!"

He swung his sword upwards before pulling it downwards, as if tracing the letter "x" in the air. The released force slammed directly into the Giant Dogoo, which briefly stumbled back.

 _6%_

The Giant Dogoo shook off the pain and, like all Dogoos before it, rushed forward to tackle the boy. Surprised that a monster of its structure can move faster than he expected, the boy made a swift dodge to the side. Its landing caused a slight tremor in the ground, but the boy did not falter. He rushed in, and repeatedly dealt various blows on its squishy body, causing bits of goo to splatter all over the place, a sight which did not fail to disgust him. It seemed to be quite effective however, as the Giant Dogoo slightly shrank from the loss of some of its goo.

 _18%_

The Giant Dogoo, its normally innocent expression changed into an angry frown, retaliated by attempting to mow down the boy, which he once again dodged and proceeded to assault it with various slashes.

 _32%_

The Giant Dogoo was relentless in its rush, each time seemingly growing faster in each attempt. The boy would repeat the same strategy by dodging, then attacking afterwards, or simply hurl as much skills as he could at the giant blob.

 _87%_

"With just a few more blows, I can finally finish it..."

The Giant Dogoo was starting to looking exhausted, slightly panting and looking smaller from all the goo that was ripped from it. It should be nearing the boy in height now, which gave him the assurance that it would all be over soon.

Even the Giant Dogoo realized this, and in a desperate motion, it bounced up high from the ground, aiming to squish the boy.

The boy was prepared to dodge this attack, but found that his foot was unable to budge. He looked to see the cause of it, and to his horror, saw that his left foot had been caught in one of the stray goos that flew out from the Dogoo. He felt the extreme dread fill his stomach as the semi-Giant Dogoo descended upon him in all of its sticky glory. Let this be a lesson to all good kids out there: don't go barefoot when you're in a forest.

...

...

He felt it. It was sticky. It was squishy. Everything felt so gooey and soft and it was like as if it was melting to his skin and being enveloped in it in all of its stickiness it was sticking in his clothes everywhere _everywhere_ _everywhere_ _everywhere everywhere_ _**EVERYWHERE EVERYWHERE EVERYWHERE**_ -

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

Suddenly, he released a miraculous burst of dark energy that was enough to blow away the Dogoo sitting on top of him.

Chunks of goo flew in all directions, leaving the Not-So-Giant Dogoo to shrink to a normal Dogoos' size.

The Dogoo, feeling a strong sense of terror, looked up to see a goo-covered boy looming at him with a dark aura surrounding him, his red eyes making him look more demonic in the dark night.

"THIS... ENDS NOW..."

His sword grew to such a large and incredible size than he, so much that it must've been piercing the skies. He brought down the sword at the completely vulnerable monster and slashed three times in different angles. His fourth slash sent it upwards, and the boy himself took a great leap off the ground, even higher than his target.

 _ **"[DIABOLIC DEVASTATOR]!"**_

With one great war cry, he throws down the darkness-imbued sword at the already KO'ed Dogoo. The sword plunges into the earth, and in one great flash the sword morphs back into its original size at the hands of its incredibly peeved master.

 _ **\+ VICTORY! +**_

 **GAINED THE "OVERKILL" ACHIEVEMENT!**

 **LEVEL UP!**

 **5 - 8**

"..."

Without a single word, the sword seemingly vanishes in thin air. The goo-covered boy's bangs cast a shadow over his eyes, making it impossible to discern the emotions running through it. Even his antenna, though normally standing upright, is drooping lifelessly.

"Out of all the foes I have ever fought in my life, none have matched that abomination."

Well, it helps that there is quite no other unique monster such as that... Quite hard to believe a fearsome Overlord such as you are were greatly affected through that ordeal.

"..."

...Anyway! Trauma aside, you have done well! You have successfully cleared the tutorial stage!

 **GAINED THE "NOT A NOOB" ACHIEVEMENT!**

Now that your body has gotten used to battling again, you can set off on a journey for vengeance or the like.

"...sleep..."

Oh that's right, you have been battling the entire night. Your weakened form as of now is more vulnerable to physical exertion, so you need to rest in order to recover. Perhaps there's a town nearby. You should go find one. A forest is not an appropriate place to sleep in after all; those Dogoos will spawn in a few minutes.

And just like that, the boy (still covered in goo), sped off in the distance.

Who knows what kind of journey awaits him?

Will he gain his vengeance on those three beings that have yet to be identified?

When will the boy's name be properly mentioned in the story?

Reasonable questions, I'm sure, but all will be revealed in the next chapter!

* * *

 **CHAPTER ONE - CLEAR!**

 **》** **CHAPTER 2** **《**

 _ **LOADING...**_

* * *

 **EXTRA NOTES**

*antenna - otherwise known as an _ahoge_ in Japanese. Also sometimes referred to as a "cowlick".

*?'s attack, _[Consuming Shadow]_ , is a shout-out to the _Gods Eater Burst_ games, the "Devour" attack.

*Quote is a reference to _Castlevania_.

*The "◇□○" symbols are a reference to the buttons you needed to press in Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory's battle system: triangle (Rush attack), square (Power), and circle (Guard Break).


	2. Chapter 2 - Names Are Starting To Show

**Jeitron:** Cool! My very first reviewer! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! I'm not very good at writing battle scenes, so I'm glad it didn't turn out to be a total mess. Since this is the Neptuniaverse, there was no fourth-wall in the first place anyway so I figured I'd break it some more by adding a narrator who could interact with the characters (especially the protagonist himself, lol). Also, because this is a Neptunia fanfiction, even readers aren't safe from tutorials. Haha. Actually, yes, I did gain some inspiration from Laharl with his personality, except that he's a bit more level-headed. I also mixed in a bit of Valvatorez in him, being older and experienced and prone to fancy speeches.

 _DISCLAIMER: The author still doesn't own anything, even the emoticons. They're from kawaii-face-dot-net (remove the lines)._

* * *

 **HYPERDIMENSION NEPTUNIA: OVERLOAD**

CHAPTER TWO

》START

Poke...

Poke poke...

Poke poke poke...

"Ergh... what..."

Wearily opening his eyes, he saw a purple-haired girl staring down at him curiously with her magenta eyes. She was holding a stuff toy of some cheery-faced purple-colored girl in her right arm, the other arm raised in the air with her pointer finger out, as if she was just poking "something", with her braid hanging loosely at her side.

"Ah, so you're alive...!" says the **Lazy-looking Girl**.

"What nonsense are you blabbering about? Of course I am alive. I am speaking to you, am I not?" the boy replies bluntly.

"Ah yeah... dead people can't talk. Unless... you're a zombie...!" Her expression morphs into one of mild shock, wondering if the boy in front of her really is a zombie.

"Zombie?! Don't start spouting outrageous things here! I am clearly a living, breathing being free from the putrid rot those undead emit!" the boy retorts.

"Okay... if you say so... But you were just lying here with all that goo around your body... so I kept poking you to make sure you weren't an icky corpse or something..." the **Lazy-looking Girl** says nonchalantly.

"Hhm, come to think of it, where is this place that I have ended up in? I could have sworn I remember leaving that blasted beast-filled forest..." the boy's face turns sour at recalling the events of the previous night.

"Ohhh, so you came out of the forest... No wonder you're all sticky... Did you get jumped on by a Dogoo or something...?" she asks.

Hearing the name of that "dreaded" creature, the boy reacts. "Yes, those savage creatures! They dared to defile my body with their atrocious gelatinous substance! Mark my words, they will face punishment the next time I face them..."

The **Lazy-looking Girl** looks on in confusion at the boy muttering angrily to himself. "Huh...? I don't know what you're talking about, but at least you made it out of the forest okay~ There're a _looot_ of monsters there, you know~ You got lucky that you passed out right in front of the entrance~"

"Hmm? Entrance to what?" the boy asks, snapping out of his ramblings.

She furrows her brows, seemingly struggling to remember something. "Uhm, I remember Histy telling me that there's a barrier or something placed in Planeptune so that monsters can't come in or something..."

"A barrier, you say. How convenient. I suppose I should be relieved that I was not attacked while I was defenseless," the boy remarks.

"So what were you doing out in the forest anyway...? It's not a good napping spot if you ask me..." the **Lazy-looking Girl** says.

"Ah, well, I do have my circumstances... but I do not see the importance of disclosing such information to a stranger such as you. Anyway, I do need to get going. For now, I do believe the first step is to seek accommodation..." he replies.

"Accomowhat...?"

He's looking for a place to stay.

"Ohh...! I see now, you're one of those homeless people...! Thank you, voice out of nowhere~!"

"What? Don't be foolish! I may lack a place of residence at the moment, but comparing me to a vagrant is simply...!"

But the **Lazy-looking Girl** continues on as if she hadn't heard him. "Hehe, why didn't you say so...! You don't have to hide that you weren't able to work hard enough to support yourself and everything~ If you really want to, you can come stay over at the Basilicom~!"

"A Basili...? No matter. I am not familiar on what that place it is you speak of, but if it will provide me with shelter, I will go through with it. Now! Take me to this 'Basilicom'!"

To add much emphasis to his last statement, he raised his arm and pointed one finger forward dramatically as if going off to discover some new uncharted territory.

The **Lazy-looking Girl** stares in amusement at his actions. "Haha, you're a pretty funny person... Okay, just follow me... The Basilicom is just nearby..."

And so the two proceeded to the Basilicom. Now, I'm sure you'd want to hear interesting details of what conversations and actions they had while they were on the way, but the (lazy) author of this story finds such things a dreadful hassle, so it has been decided that those things shall be skipped.

 **\- (ULTRADIMENSION) PLANEPTUNE BASILICOM -**

"I'm home~!"

"Welcome back, Plu-Plu!" a **Pink-haired Girl** greets.

"Ah, Lady Plutia! You're back so soon?" says another **Girl with a Leafy Bow**.

"Yep~! And I brought a new friend with me~!" the **Lazy-looking Girl** replies with an easygoing smile.

"...Hmm, this is a rather queer abode you have here," the boy comments as he enters, seeing the blindingly colorful and incredibly girly-looking decorations.

Seeing him, the **Pink-haired Girl** reacts with surprise. "Wah! A-a boy?!"

Next to her, the **Girl with a Leafy Bow** looks equally as perturbed as she is. "To think that Lady Plutia would actually come home with a guy... this is something I'd never expect to happen..."

"I found him sleeping outside the border, so I thought I'd let him stay here~" the **Lazy-looking Girl** explains.

"That's awfully generous of you, Lady Plutia, but... the Basilicom isn't exactly the place to take in homeless people," the **Girl with a Leafy Bow** states.

Feeling insulted, the boy narrows his eyes at her. "You dare insult me, human?!"

"Wah, he's mad!" the **Pink-haired Girl** exclaims.

Before his violent reaction would escalate further, the **Lazy-looking Girl** 's unchanging carefree attitude thankfully interrupted him. Don't look so down, boy, that pouty attitude doesn't suit an Overlord such as yourself.

"Aww... really? But I thought it would've been really fun if I took him in..."

"W-well, I'm just saying that you should consider what Histoire thinks about this if you decide to adopt a hobo out of the blue..." the **Girl with a Leafy Bow** tries to reason.

As if on cue, a **Tiny Fairy** flies in, carrying a paper bag that somehow managed to come in her size*.

"Hm? What about me? ｡◕ ‿ ◕｡"

Their attention shifts on the appearance of a new character, with the **Pink-haired Girl** turning to greet her with a smile. "Oh, Histy! You're back, too!"

"Yes, I had just finished the usual shopping. Oof, they're quite heavy, so Compa, if you would please..." she says, clearly having difficulty heaving the bag.

"Ah, right! I'll put them away for you, Histy!" the **Pink-haired Girl** responds, taking the bag in her hands and leaving the room. In the first place, just why are they letting such a small creature do the shopping by herself? Isn't that fairy abuse?

Now relieved of the weight in her arms, the **Tiny Fairy** turns to the people remaining in the room. "As I was saying before, what were you all talking about that had to involve me? (^-^)"

"You came at just the right time, Histoire. You see..." the **Girl with a Leafy Bow** starts to say, but then the **Lazy-looking Girl** finishes it for her.

"I brought a hobo home~!"

"WHAT?! A BOY?! ⊙▃⊙" the **Tiny Fairy** cries out in surprise, seeing the boy standing right next to the girl.

"You just now noticed my presence?" says the boy from somewhere in the background.

"Plutia! Why would you bring home a man at such a time like this?! o(≧o≦)o I thought you were supposed to go do some quests to raise Planeptune's shares!" the **Tiny Fairy** scolds.

"Well yeah, I was going to, but then I found him sleeping on the way out... He said he didn't have a place to stay, so the only place I could think of was the Basilicom..." the **Lazy-looking Girl** replies.

"Couldn't you have taken him to the inn instead, Plu-Plu?" the **Pink-haired Girl** asks.

"Compa, he's homeless remember? He wouldn't have the money to pay for the rent," the **Girl with a Leafy Bow** tells her in a straightforward tone.

"Ah, that's right..."

A vein popped in his head. The boy was tired of being rendered as a hobo and it seems his tolerance has reached its limit. I sense a violent introduction in the midst.

"Alright, enough of this absurdity! I will not simply stand here and tolerate your insults towards me!"

With one single movement of his arm, the floor distorted and opened up once again in response to his summon. Quickly gripping its hilt when it had fully risen, he then pointed it at the two girls.

"You measly humans... I take it that you are asking for a fight? Against me, Overlord Momus?"

The **Tiny Fairy** gasps in shock upon hearing the name. "...! Overlord-?!"

"H-huh?! Where'd that sword come from?!" exclaims the **Pink-haired Girl**.

Reacting quickly to the sword pointed at them, the **Girl with a Leafy Bow** stood in front of the **Pink-haired Girl** protectively, drawing out a pair of claw-like weapons hidden from her sleeves.

"You... what are you?! You're not just a normal homeless person!"

He coolly stares at her, sword still pointing at her face. "Did you not hear my earlier statement, human? Or are your ears not sharp enough to heed my words? I am the one who strikes fear in the hearts of men! I will let everything fade into oblivion! I am the Overlord of Destruction... Overlord Momus! The end has come!*"

"Huuuuuhhhh...?" the **Lazy-looking Girl** watches on with confusion, question marks practically dancing on top of her head.

"So that ominous presence I felt a while ago... it was you?" the **Tiny Fairy** asks in a calm but wary tone.

"Ah, I see not all of you lot are mere bumbling idiots. Now stand in awe of my terrifying presence, for you have sealed your fate with your insolence!"

"Kh...!"

Steeling herself, the **Girl with a Leafy Bow** shifted into a battle stance, preparing for the battle that was about to ensue. The **Pink-haired Girl** slowly backed off, bracing herself for the battle to begin when...

"I'M HOOOOOOOME!"

...out of nowhere, a yellow blur flew past by and rammed straight into said Overlord, entrapping him in a (literal) bone crushing hug.

"Gaah! What kind of beast is this?! Its sheer strength is enough to crush my ribcage! To think you people are keeping such a monster with you... I was not prepared for such an ambush...!"

Recognizing the figure, the **Lazy-looking Girl** gives her a smile. "Oh, Peashy~! Welcome back~!"

Following after, a woman meekly enters. She will be called as **Nervous Woman**. "U-uhm, I'm sorry to intrude..."

"Good to see you too, Miss Rei! Thanks for escorting Pea-Pea home like you always do!" says the **Pink-haired Girl**.

The **Nervous Woman** shrinks back a little at being thanked. "A-ah, there's no need to thank me..."

Just when the mood started to take a sudden shift...

"Everyone, stand back! That guy over there is dangerous!" the **Girl with a Leafy Bow** warns.

The **Nervous Woman** immediately panics at the word. "D-d-dangerous?!"

The **Yellow Kid** stares at the boy in wonder, realizing that she had hugged a different person. "Huh? Wait, I don't know this guy... and why's he all sticky?"

"Peashy! Get off him right now!" the **Girl with a Leafy Bow** shouts at her.

"Agh, get off me you little beast!"

He attempted to swing his sword at her, but alas, the little girl's arms were wrapped so firmly around him that all he could manage was to squirm his hand around the sword uselessly, causing it to slip out of his grasp and clatter into the ground and vanish.

"Diabolus! You dare forsake your master at such a crucial moment?!"

"Nice one, Peashy!" the **Girl with a Leafy Bow** throws in a compliment, thinking that the **Yellow Kid** had aided her somehow.

"Khhh... no matter! Even if you have rendered my upper limbs useless, I will have to resort to physical bodily harm! Haa!"

He rushed forward, the kid still dangling from him like some sort of accessory, with every intention of tackling the **Girl with a Leafy Bow**. The attack failed to connect, however, as she dodged swiftly at the last moment, causing the boy - oh wait he's Momus now - to crash into a shelf. The boy and the still-attached girl gave out a cry of surprise from the impact as plush dolls rained upon them.

"Ahhh, Pea-Pea!" exclaims the **Pink-haired Girl**.

On the other hand, the **Girl with a Leafy Bow** continues to assess the situation calmly. "Why'd he take Peashy with him? No, wait... could she possibly be stuck?!"

"H-huh? W-what? Stuck?" the **Nervous Woman** stutters in befuddlement.

The **Girl with a Leafy Bow** 's eyes widen in realization. "Oh! It must be all that goo! If we can find a way to peel Peashy off him, then we can-"

She suddenly stopped speaking. Her face morphed into an expression of pure horror as if seemingly sensing a terrifying aura. Said aura was emanating from the **Lazy-looking Girl** , whose laid-back expression was looking rather strained. Though she was still smiling, there is something that seems simply off with that smile...

"Hey... everyone should play nice... I won't allow anything getting destroyed in my Basilicom..."

"E-eeeekkkkkk...!"

The **Girl with a Leafy Bow** was literally quaking in terror, her normally cool front broken in front of such a monster.

"Hmm...? You say something, voice of out nowhere...?"

I'll shut up now.

"I-I'm terribly sorry, Lady Plutia! B-but he called himself an Overlord a-and I-he was pointing a sword at us that he summoned out of nowhere a-a-and I just... waahhhh, I'm so sorry!"

The **Girl with a Leafy Bow** was practically tearing up, losing every motivation to battle now as she retracted her claws. The **Pink-haired Girl** came up to her and gave her a comforting pat on her shoulder.

"There, there, Iffy."

With the battle atmosphere gone, the **Tiny Fairy** lets out a deep sigh at the outcome of the events. "I suppose those two need to get cleaned up first before anything else. Having goo all around the Basilicom will simply not do. (￣□￣) There's also the matter of getting a new change of clothes for him..."

"If it's fine with you Histy, Iffy and I can go out and get some clothes for him! Iffy could really use this chance go out and calm down a bit," the **Pink-haired Girl** suggests.

The **Tiny Fairy** gives a nod at her words. "That sounds like a great idea, Compa. ●‿●"

"Okey-dokey then, let's get going Iffy!"

"Waagh..."

Gripping the still bawling girl's shoulders, the **Pink-haired Girl** leads her to the door.

"W-wait! If he's going to be taking a bath, then wouldn't that mean that Peashy would have to... t-take a bath with him too?!" the **Nervous Woman** says.

"Ah yes, there is the complication of a young girl taking a bath with an unfamiliar man... (╯_╰) We cannot allow such a thing, it would be inappropriate. So, Miss Rei, I suppose we'll have to get pulling," the **Tiny Fairy** replies.

The **Nervous Woman** looks quite hesitant. "P-pulling? So we're going to try to pull them apart? W-will that be okay? I-I mean, they just look so glued together..."

"Well, it's not like we have any choice in the matter. (︶︹︺) Plutia, you help too. You'll hold on to Peashy while Miss Rei will hold onto Momus," the **Tiny Fairy** instructs.

"Okay~" the **Lazy-looking Girl** responds in her usual carefree tone, the earlier murderous aura completely gone.

She grabs a hold of the non-gelatinous parts of the young girl as the **Nervous Woman** slowly puts her hands down on the bewildered boy's shoulders.

"Hey, wait, who gave you the right to touch me woman-"

His protests were cut off as the other two females started to pull the **Yellow Kid** from his body, which was being held still.

"Heeaaave-ho~!"

"D-daaaahhhhh you two! Just what in the world do you think you are doing?!"

"U-uhm, we're trying to separate you two, so please stop moving around for a bit!"

The two females continued to pull, the sticky substance stretching out like gum between the boy and child, before it finally snapped, causing said female pushers to tumble backwards from the impact.

"Whoop-!"

"Ohdeargoodness!"

Like the aftermath of a falling domino game, the boy fell and landed on the fallen **Nervous Woman** behind him, while the **Yellow Kid** had fallen into the **Lazy-looking Girl** 's lap.

"Haha, that was fun! Can we play another game?" the **Yellow Kid** says gleefully.

Her rings of laughter continue to echo around the room, oblivious to the other three's plight.

"Aww, I got all sticky now too..." the **Lazy-looking Girl** says, looking at her now goo-covered clothes.

The **Nervous Woman** also looks at her clothes in dismay. "Ahhh, and to think I just had my clothes washed..."

The so-called Overlord that was previously sitting on top of her sprang up, wild proclamations ready to spout out from his mouth.

"This has got to be the greatest amount of disrespect I have ever experienced! I was just about to show that human who is superior, then you rudely touch me without my consent! Do you honestly think you will escape this unscathed?!"

"Oh, please calm down Momus, we had to separate Peashy from you so you could take a bath properly. (╯_╰)" The **Tiny Fairy** says in an attempt to quell him.

"Separate? Explain yourself, tiny faerie!"

"We cannot simply allow you to take a bath with Peashy, so our only option was to remove her from you so you may be free to take a bath on your own," she replies.

He gives a hard stare at the small creature before him, until he finally relaxes and folds his arms around his chest in his usual arrogant manner.

"...Oh, is that so? Say so earlier. I will cleanse myself of this filth immediately. Take me to your finest fountain!"

"Fountain...? All we have is a bathroom though..." says the **Lazy-looking Girl**.

 **Momus** nods in approval anyway, despite not knowing what a "bathroom" was. "That will have to do. Now, make haste!"

"Okay... Just make it quick, I don't wanna stay sticky for too long..." Though looking unmotivated to do so, the **Lazy-looking Girl** manages to comply and leads him to a hallway at the end of the room, leaving small trails of goo behind.

"W-wait, he gets to go in first?" the **Nervous Woman** asks.

"Well, it can't be helped. ┐('～`；)┌ As long as all of you get cleaned up soon that is fine with me," the **Tiny Fairy** replies in resignation.

"I wanna take a bath with you, mommy!" says the **Yellow Kid**.

She cheerfully runs over to the **Nervous Woman** and hugs her midriff, unaware of the goo still present in her body.

"A-ah, w-wait Peashy, the goo is sticking all over..."

She tries to pry off the **Yellow Kid** only to realize that she already had gotten stuck. The **Tiny Fairy** could only watch her attempts in trying to unglue themselves from each other.

On the other hand, with our Overlord...

"To think you have managed to make water submit to your will! When I move this luminous stone in a certain direction, the water obeys!"

"Oh, that's just the shower, Momo..."

...and he continued to flood the girl with endless questions of the "mystical room of bathing", slowly adjusting to the mechanics of the modern bathroom.

Oh, and to answer your question, yes, despite lack of human contact, he knows how to bathe. Not even Overlords should be exempted from the importance of personal hygiene!

*MUCH LATER*

Once bathing was done, **Momus** had headed back to the main room where the others were cleaning up in wearing the brand new clothes the **Pink-haired Girl** was kind enough to get for him. When asked how she managed to obtain clothes that managed to fit him, she admitted that she picked out clothes that she assumed would fit his size. How convenient?

For those curious, he is know wearing black pants with a red shirt complete with a matching black scarf. The **Girl with a Leafy Bow** insisted on getting red and black colors for him since he was "of evil".

"Phew, everything's all cleaned up now~!" says the **Lazy-looking Girl** as she brushes off the non-existent sweat from her forehead.

"Aw, but Plu-Plu, you let Iffy do most of the work," the **Pink-haired Girl** tells her.

"But she was the one who volunteered to help..." the **Lazy-looking Girl** replies with a pout.

The **Girl with a Leafy Bow** hurriedly waves her hands in front of her in assurance. "N-no, it's fine! Anything for Lady Plutia!"

With everything settled, the **Tiny Fairy** speaks up. "Anyhow, now that everyone has finished cleaning themselves, I'd like to confront you, Momus, about your situation. Without resorting to violence, I'd hope. (つд｀)"

"And why would I need to do so? I do not have any obligation to give information to the likes of all of you," **Momus** says stubbornly.

Well, first off, the plot would go nowhere. And unless you cooperate, you won't be getting a place to stay.

"...Interesting argument. Very well! Be honored that I have granted you the permission of questioning me!"

"What an ego..." the **Girl with a Leafy Bow** mutters.

"Right, well I'm glad you understand. Ahem, I should get started... Overlord Momus. Why have you appeared here? If I recall correctly, there are various records of an Overlord in another dimension who was known and feared as the Overlord of Destruction because of his incredible power. But such a long time has passed that those stories were considered myths," starts the **Tiny Fairy**.

"Yes, Arfoire was particularly interested in the myths regarding about an Overlord of Destruction... but I didn't think that he would actually be real..." the **Nervous Woman** comments.

"Clear your eyes, you foolish woman! I am obviously here standing before you!"

Her timid nature kicking in again, she frantically apologizes. "A-ah, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me!"

The **Yellow Kid** glares at **Momus** with as much force a kid could have. "Hey, meanie! No bullying mommy!"

Unaffected by the smaller child's attempt at threatening him, he gives her a dismissive reply. "I don't have time for you right now, you little beast."

Trying to regain track of the conversation, the **Tiny Fairy** cuts in. "P-please, just answer my question. (*´д｀*)"

 **Momus** lets out a sigh. "If I must... as it stands, I have absolutely no idea on why I have awakened at such a time. But, all I know is that I must get revenge on those three fools who dared seal me away!"

"Seal...?" the **Pink-haired Girl** repeats.

"I see... that certainly explains your situation. It has been said that the Overlord of Destruction's reign came to an end when he was supposedly defeated by the three other Overlords. But in truth you were sealed away in this dimension instead," the **Tiny Fairy** says.

Once again, **Momus** reacts in his usual loud manner. "What?! Defeated?! That is a grave insult to my abilities! How dare they spew such lies! All the more reason to hunt them down and show them just who is the strongest Overlord of all!"

"Waahh, Mr. Overlord's getting all angry again!" the **Pink-haired Girl** exclaims.

Thankfully, the **Tiny Fairy** intercepts. "Unfortunately, I do not think you will be able to do so. (◡︿◡✿)"

"Tiny creature, are you saying you doubt my strength?!"

The **Tiny Fairy** quickly shakes her head. "N-no, it's not that. (つд｀) I believe you are too late, Momus. The three Overlords who sealed you away were eventually defeated by the Legendary Quartet*."

"...What."

"Huh, you've been beaten to the punch," the **Girl with a Leafy Bow** remarks in a dry tone.

The **Lazy-looking Girl** also expresses her sympathies(?). "Oh, that's too bad..."

Still in disbelief, **Momus** continues to question the fairy. "Wait! If those three imbeciles have already been slayed... then what other task is left for me to accomplish?!"

While looking slightly reluctant, the **Tiny Fairy** answers him. "Well, knowing that you are an Overlord, we can't just let you roam free around this nation. We have no choice but to take you in here for... safekeeping purposes."

"Wait, he's not going to become a freeloader is he?" the **Girl with a Leafy Bow** asks in incredulousness.

"Goodness, no. The last thing we need is another lazy person in this Basilicom. （￣へ￣）So, Momus, while you are staying under our care, you will agree to work alongside Plutia and the others with their duties in the Basilicom," the **Tiny Fairy** explains.

 **Momus** , however, didn't look too thrilled with the idea. "Me? Being reduced to a slave? I object to such a degrading position!"

"Hey, you're the one staying at our place. The least you can do is help out," the **Girl with a Leafy Bow** tells him with a slight glare.

"That's right, Mr. Overlord! All Plu-Plu does is sleep, so we could really use an extra hand!" the **Pink-haired Girl** encourages with a smile.

The **Lazy-looking Girl** looks guilty. "Aww, I got called out..."

"Honestly, Plutia... （￣へ￣）Anyway, like I've mentioned earlier, you need a place to stay so it's not like you have a choice in the matter," the **Tiny Fairy** states.

Though looking greatly displeased, **Momus** has no choice either way. "...It appears the odds are against me... fine! I shall yield! You should feel honored that a great Overlord such as I am assisting you!"

"Taking in an Overlord... is that safe?" the **Nervous Woman** asks with understandable concern.

The **Yellow Kid** , though, looks more excited rather than worried. "Oooh, does this mean I get a new playmate?"

The **Tiny Fairy** smiles. "Well then, that's settled. Ah, to officially welcome you in our Basilicom we must introduce ourselves. I'm quite tired to being referred to as a tiny fairy...(¬_¬)"

I label things as I see fit.

"Is that so...(¬_¬) Ahem, I am Histoire, the Oracle of Planeptune. I record everything regarding every nation's history," the **Tiny Fairy** , now known as **Histoire** , introduces.

"Oh? Then do you have any of my great accomplishments stored inside your tiny form?" **Momus** asks.

"Yes, but it will take me three days to find them," she replies.

"...That is quite a hassle," **Momus** says.

 **Histoire** looks rather offended. "Well, excuse me! (⋋▂⋌)"

"Anyway, might as well introduce myself next. I'm IF. I work at a Guild. Just so you know, I don't completely trust you. You better not pull any dirty tricks, Overlord Momus. I'll be keeping a close eye on you."

IF? Only two letters?

 **Momus** looks unfazed. "Hah, your petty threats mean nothing to me, human. I will gladly accept your challenge anytime!"

 **IF** glares back at him in response. "I'll show you!"

"Now, now, calm down Iffy. Anyway, nice to meet you, Mr. Overlord! I'm Compa! Nurse-in-training! I like baking sweets, helping people in need, and I may not look like it, but I'm good with numbers!*"

We're not asking for your entire profile, you know.

 **Compa** gives a sheepish smile. "Ahaha, I might've gotten too enthusiastic about it, Mr. Voice."

I'm genderless, actually.

"Hehe, my turn~ I'm Plutia~ I didn't know you were an Overlord, Momo~! Since I found you, doesn't that make me your master~?"

 **Momus** crosses his arms over his chest in a condescending manner. "I submit to no one."

"No. No one resists Lady Plutia," **IF** says with finality.

"What are you blathering about now, human?"

Before the subject could be further elaborated on, the **Yellow Kid** comes to save the day again.

"Hey, hey, it's my turn now! I'm Peashy! You remember that, plant man!"

"My hair is not something related to grass!" He retorts.

"And this is my mommy!"

Ignored.

"..."

Seeing that it was her time to introduce herself, the **Nervous Woman** fidgets in her position. "A-a-ah! It's my turn already?! U-uh w-well, h-hello, I'm R-Rei Ryghts a-and I uhm, lead an organization called the S-Seven Sages..."

"Woman, you stutter too much," **Momus** says bluntly.

"E-eep! Y-You're right! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Honestly, Miss Rei. You're a lot more confident during your meetings, so what're you doing becoming a nervous wreck again?" **IF** says.

"Yeah~! Iffy told us that while she was spying on you she saw you give some nasty punishment to Mr. Rat because he was being naughty~" **Plutia** adds with her usual airy tone.

"Ah, r-right, I'm sorry, it appears my old habits are returning again..." **Rei** **Ryghts** replies, her tone becoming less frantic, but then surprise overcomes her face when she processes the latter's words. "W-wait! 'Spy'?!"

"...I didn't think I'd be found out this soon, but I guess I'd better come clean. Miss Rei, the Guild often sends me to spy on you from time to time to observe whether you'd go crazy and try to eliminate the CPUs again," **IF** confesses.

"Also, Pea-Pea tells us some of the things you do when she gets home," **Compa** says.

"P-Peashy! I thought we were supposed to keep those things a secret!" **Rei** **Ryghts** exclaims, clearly embarrassed.

"But mommy, it's pretty fun! You make me play with Mr. Rat sometimes when I come with you to work!" **Peashy** replies happily.

 **Plutia** looks just as happy **Peashy** is. "Yesterday, you made her swing Mr. Rat like a rag doll~! That must've been _soooo_ fun~!"

"A-ah, b-but that was...!" **Rei** **Ryghts** buries her face in her hands, clearly embarrassed.

"You know, the whole method of letting others obey you through fear reminds me of Lady Plutia..." **IF** says, looking uncomfortable.

"B-but...! That's because no one would listen...! I-I swear I won't t-try to cause trouble again...!" **Rei** **Ryghts** was seemingly back to her nervous self again, feebly trying to explain for herself.

"It's okay, Miss Rei~ We know that you won't do bad things anymore, right...?" **Plutia** asks with a smile on her face.

Though judging by the aura surrounding her that smile seems to have some underlying intentions beneath it...

 **Rei** **Ryghts** seems to pick up on this and immediately straightens. "Y-yes! I promise!"

During the span of their conversation that somehow managed to go beyond mere introductions, **Momus** was left standing off to the side listening in with slight confusion. "I'm afraid some things aren't clear to me. Has the Awkward One committed some sort of atrocity in the past?"

"Well, there's the fact that she kidnapped children, brainwashed Peashy and caused a huge mess between dimensions. And that all happened a couple of weeks ago," **IF** answers.

 **Rei** **Ryghts** flinches at the information. "T-that's...!"

 **Peashy** pouts angrily at the girls. "Hey! Don't pick on mommy! She and daddy were nice to me so I'm okay with it! Mommy will always be my mommy!"

"Filial relationships are rather baffling. I fail to see how you two can be related to each other with such contrasting personalities," **Momus** says.

"Actually, we're not blood-related..." **Rei** **Ryghts** tells him.

 **Momus** stares blankly. "...This only seems to deepen my confusion."

"When Pea-Pea got brainwashed, she thought Miss Rei was her mom. But she still liked Miss Rei after the brainwashing so she still calls Miss Rei her mom," **Compa** explains.

...This is like a bad case of Stockholm Syndrome: Parental Version.

 **Momus** closes his eyes and mulls over the new information. He only lasts a few seconds before he bursts in frustration. "...None of this is making any sense whatsoever! My mind refuses to process anymore information! Humans, you do have a mattress I may rest upon, yes?"

"We do have an extra space you can use..." **Histoire** answers.

 **Rei** **Ryghts** looks out the window and sees the dark sky. "Ah, I didn't realize it had gotten so late already. I do need to be going home now."

"Aww, you're leaving already, mommy?" **Peashy** asks with a frown.

"Now Pea-Pea, Miss Rei has to go home now. She'll be back to hang out with you again!" **Compa** assures her.

Hearing this, **Peashy** 's frown turns into a smile. "Okay! Bye-bye, mommy!"

 **Rei** **Ryghts** gives a smile at the child before turning to the door. "I shall be going now. Thank you for having me."

She gives an awkward bow, right before she opens the door and leaves.

"Well, now that everything is done, I do believe I shall retire for the day. Show me to your bed-place, human number two!" **Momus** orders.

"Sure thing, Mr. Overlord! I can arrange a place for you to sleep over here!"

"Yeah, Pea's sleepy too!"

Seemingly dismissing the self-proclaimed great Overlord's display of rudeness, **Compa** leads the boy to another section of the Basilicom, followed by the small child trailing behind them.

 **IF** watches them leave the room and lets out a sigh. "I don't get how Compa can be so friendly around that guy. I mean, he's an Overlord! How can anyone not be suspicious about him?"

"Yes, I have to admit that Plutia taking in a random person off the forest is an unusual occurrence in itself. What brought you to do such a thing, Plutia?" **Histoire** asks.

 **Plutia** merely smiles in response. " _Weeell_ , he kind of reminds me of a little lost stray, you know~? So I thought it might've been fun to take him in like a pet or something...hahaha~"

"...A pet, you say...( ﾟдﾟ)"

"...Lady Plutia's thought process is scary..."

And thus ends another chapter!

I am sure that you people are finally rejoicing at the fact that the characters are being referred to with their proper given names. I cannot say that I will stop doing that for every new character introduced, hoho.

But such trivial details aside, what will happen to the self-proclaimed great Overlord now that his purpose in life has been diminished merely in the second chapter?

Just how will he adapt to being whisked away to a new dimension stripped of the powers he strongly he keeps boasting about?

And furthermore, how will this dimension manage to handle having the series' first ever male character that is not an NPC, and does not have a shadowed picture?

Why do I feel the need to ask a question every time a chapter ends?

Frankly, even I myself do not know that question. I am merely doing what every narrator is supposed to do by attempting to perk a reader's curiosity with questions that they most likely have thought of while reading. But a duty is a duty.

*Ahem* Where was I? Oh yes.

Find out these questions in the next chapter!

* * *

 **CHAPTER TWO - CLEAR!**

 **》** **CHAPTER THREE** **《**

 _ **LOADING**_ **...**

* * *

 **EXTRA NOTES**

*The scene is a reference to the cutscene in Chapter 1 of the game.

*Quote is a reference to Hakumen from _BlazBlue_.

*Once again, slight reference to Re;Birth 1.

*Call-back to Compa's introduction in the original Neptunia game.


	3. Chapter 3 - Quest Time

**Silver Highwind** : I'm glad you enjoy Momus for the arrogant dork he is. xD

 **Ame:** I'm also glad that you like Momus's character!

 **Jeitron** : Well I can't guarantee that updates will always be quick. Because laziness, schoolwork and whatnot. Ahaha. But I'll try. I've noticed that most fanfiction settings start at the Hyperdimension, so I figured it'd be a nice change of pace to take place in the Ultradimension. Lol yeah, Momus is an overall hammy character, and this is the Neptunia world after all, so expect a bunch of video game and anime references.

 **Cobaltroid** : Haha, wow, you guys pick up on the references pretty quick. xD Momus's background was partly inspired by Maou-sama, so that should explain things. I do make sure the chapters are free of any grammatical errors, but if I happen to miss anything don't hesitate to correct me. Well, who knows what else is in store for Momus later on, but one thing's for sure he'll try to keep his sanity intact. Haha. Glad to hear you enjoy the story!

 _DISCLAIMER: The author doesn't own anything. Never have, never will._

* * *

 **HYPERDIMENSION NEPTUNIA: OVERLOAD**

CHAPTER THREE

》START

And so starts another morning.

What? You want to hear what happened last time? Then read [CHAPTER TWO]. I don't see any point in mentioning it in this chapter, since this is [CHAPTER THREE]. Why else would you read this if you didn't finish chapter two? Honestly.

"Well then, Momus, I do believe this is the first day that you will experience work," **Histoire** says.

 **Momus** doesn't even bother to hide his lack of enthusiasm. "So, what sort of grievous task shall I be doing?"

 **Histoire** sweatdrops at his mood. "You don't have to make it sound so agonizing. (￣□￣) That aside, your main duty is to assist Plutia in gathering shares for her nation."

"Shares? Her nation?" **Momus** repeats.

"Ah, right, I have not yet explained to you the mechanics of this world."

Warning: long explanation about to occur.

"Ahem, if I may continue! You see, here in [Gamindustri], there are four nations: Planeptune, Lastation, Lowee and Leanbox. They are each governed by Console Patron Units-otherwise known as CPUs. In order to maintain their powers, they maintain [shares], which are derived from the faith of the people," **Histoire** explains.

 **Momus** crosses his arms across his chest looking unimpressed. "Relying on humans for their powers? How weak."

"It may seem that way, but that's how things have always been. This nation we are currently living on is [Planeptune]. Plutia is the CPU of this nation, [Iris Heart]."

 **Momus** lifts a brow skeptically. "You mean to tell me that spacey-looking girl is a goddess?"

 **Histoire** sighs. "Yes, it may seem unbelievable, but it is the truth. ˇ︿ˇ And as you can tell, Plutia is not the most studious kind of girl, so her shares often make zero progress."

"And just where do I begin to aid such a lax deity?" **Momus** asks.

"You will accompany her in doing quests," **Histoire** replies.

"Quests?" He repeats.

 **Histoire** nods. "Yes. Doing quests for the people help increase their faith. Quests are separated into hunting for monsters or merely finding certain items."

 **Momus** gives his own nod of approval. "Sounds simple enough. And where do I do these quests that you speak of?"

"People post quests at the Guild. You can ask more details from IF since she is a guild member herself," **Histoire** explains.

 **Momus** 's expression contorts into one of displeasure. "I would've liked to avoid working with my arch-enemy, but running away will prove cowardice on my part! I shall grudgingly accept this duty that has been given to me."

Since when did **IF** become your arch-enemy?

 **Histoire** 's face relaxes. "I'm glad to hear that. Now then, you may get Plutia and be on your way."

"Come to think of it, where is that so-called CPU? She does not seem to be present," **Momus** says, looking around the room.

"She's just in her room, sleeping as usual. (｡-_-｡) I've tried to wake her up several times now, but she simply won't budge. Maybe you could give it a try, Momus," **Histoire** replies.

"What? Why are you delegating this task to me instead?" **Momus** asks, clearly not in the mood to do it.

"The last time I tried to wake her up, she nearly squished me when she attempted to use me as some sort of body pillow! I really don't want a repeat of that incident..." **Histoire** shuts her eyes in discomfort, remembering the previous event.

"Why not ask those humans of yours? They seem more adequate to this sort of task than I would," **Momus** says.

"If you're referring to IF and Compa, they are out for work. Peashy is also out with Miss Rei for their usual 'mother-daughter bonding' as they put it, so the only one left to ask here is you," **Histoire** answers.

"Agh, to think an Overlord such as myself has to go wake up some lazy goddess..."

Heaving out an irritated sigh, he reluctantly stomps towards the sleeping goddess's room. I sense a flag!

* * *

Opening the door with such force that it ended up slamming into the wall loudly, the rude boy makes his grand entrance. Even though he's entering a girl's room. How shameless.

"Hey! It's about time you have risen from your slumber!"

His words resound the entire room, but the sleeping girl does not even stir once.

"Must you make this so difficult?!"

He stomps in his usual irritated manner towards the girl's bed, and glares at her sleeping form.

"Hey."

"Zzz..." Is the only reply.

"Hey!" He says in a louder tone.

"...zzz..."

"Enough of your slumber! I, Overlord Momus, have come to personally wake you! You have no right to ignore my presence!"

 **Plutia** shows no sign of stirring, sleepy mumbles coming out of her mouth.

"Aaagh! Wake up! Wake up, I say! Overlord Momus commands you!"

Seeing no progress so far whatsoever, he resorts to shaking the girl's body in an effort to wake her.

"Aahhh, the earth's being all shaky... help me, Mr. Bear..."

Still caught up in her dream, she reaches out and pulls at the boy's arms still attempting to shake her, causing him to give out a cry of surprise as he is pulled downwards with her on her bed. Ha, I knew this was a flag!

Ahem, oh right, back to the story. Anyway, I'm pretty sure you can imagine their position right about now.

"Stop your blabbering and do something!"

Currently, **Plutia** 's arms are wrapped around **Momus** 's waist. She continues to sleep, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she has the self-proclaimed great Overlord enveloped in a hug. Is that not a rather adorable moment?

"I can't seem to break free! Do all of the women in this dimension possess such brutish strength?!"

Apparently, yes. And she is a goddess after all.

"Will you not cease your narrating? I am currently in an unfavorable position at the moment!"

I assumed a great Overlord such as yourself would be more than capable of getting out of a situation like this.

"Gh...! That's... grr, fine! Who do you think I am?!* I am the one and only Overlord Momus! I will not lose to a being such as this!"

"Hnnrgh... it's kinda noisy..."

Seeing that she has started to move, he turns his attention back towards her. "You! It's about time you have awakened! Release your hold of me at once!"

By now, the girl seems to be finally waking up. She blearily opens her eyes and is slowly coming to.

"Huh...? What...?"

Right before her, she sees a grouchy looking face staring back irritably at her. Her mind seems to be slowly processing the situation at the moment.

Blink. Blink.

"What are you doing gawking at me in such a manner? Did you not hear my earlier command? Release me! Right! Now!"

At first, silence.

And then...

"...AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Aaaaaagh! Do not scream in front of my face so suddenly, fool!"

And thus the bomb exploded. In her moment of extreme surprise, she promptly shoved the boy off her bed. He landed on the floor with a thud. Painfully.

"W-w-why are you sleeping here in my room...?! In my bed...?! That's really inappropriate, Momo...! I don't forgive perverts...! Bad...! Bad...! Baaaad...!"

She then proceeded to assault him with numerous amounts of pillows. Why she has so many is beyond me.

Naturally, our apparent hero of the story will not take this attack standing-er, sitting like this.

"Gah! I go through such a length just to wake you, and this is how you repay me?! Such insult! I will-"

A large pillow to his face quickly cut his sentence short.

"Grrrrr...! Your insolence is grating my patience!"

"But you were the one who came into my room and slept with me...! You're the one at fault, Momo...! You're the type that goes into girl's rooms and sleeps with them...! That's gross...!" **Plutia** says, clutching a pillow as if it were a shield.

"I did no such thing! I, out of my extreme kindness-"

Snort.

"- _EXTREME_ KINDNESS, merely followed your tiny book's request and came to wake you! And then you just so happen to grab me and you had the nerve to attack me for such a cause!"

Well, I would too, if I saw such a face first thing in the morning.

"Silence, All-Knowing One! I have no need for your needless commentary at the moment! Anyway! As I was saying! For such behavior, I will punish you accordingly!"

He thrust his hand out, summoning forth his sword as the ground distorted.

Oh, but have you forgotten that if you choose to attack her, you will lose a place to stay?

"...Ah."

Quickly coming upon this realization, the dark energy that was starting to flow vanished like a puff of smoke.

"...Khhh! I will let you go. For now."

He turned his back around and marched off angrily, slamming the door with a huff. It seemed like it took all of his willpower just to hold his temper.

"..."

Meanwhile, the newly awakened girl stared silently at the door he just rudely slammed (again). Rather than looking depressed, or angry, she looked...curious?

"Huh, that was the first time a guy got angry at me..."

She then clasped her hands together in a delighted manner.

"Haha, that rage was something else~! Momo makes such interesting reactions~! I can't wait to see what kind of expressions he can make next~"

...

"Though I wonder why I grabbed him... I thought I was hugging Mr. Bear... hmmm... oh well. He was pretty warm..."

 **PLUTIA'S AFFECTION HAS INCREASED TO LEVEL {3}**

...that girl has a disturbing way of thinking. I imagine a complicated relationship will ensue if they end up together.

Oh, and yes, I'm sure you have noticed the [Affection Rank]. It'd be normally called a [Lily Rank], but since our protagonist is most definitely a guy, the term will be changed to suit the protagonist's sexuality (or lack thereof). For you convenient readers, I will now explain the system.

{0-1} - Dun like

{2-3} - So-so

{4-5} - Pretty nice

{6-7} - Like

{8-10} - Love-love

And there you have it.

Now let us return to our sulking protagonist. By now, **Plutia** had fully awakened and was in the living room with **Histoire** and **Momus**.

"While I would like to know what happened back there...(*´д｀*)" **Histoire** says in an uneasy tone, sensing some tension in the room.

A series of grumbles only came out from **Momus** in response.

"...It is time for you two to get going. Plutia, I do hope you get some work done today. (-''-)" **Histoire** finishes.

" _Okayyy_..." **Plutia** replies in a nonchalant manner.

"Now then, take care you two. Momus, I am trusting you to look after Plutia," **Histoire** says.

"Yes, yes, I am well aware. We shall depart," he replies, zero enthusiasm evident in his voice.

And off they went.

 **\- PLANEPTUNE GUILD -**

"So, Slumbering One, what sort of action must we do in order to proceed?" He asks.

 **Plutia** was busy gazing upon a board. "Well, you just pick a request here and then you go do whatever it is that's placed there... Hmmm... let's see... this one looks easy, so I'll take it~!"

 _[Need A Bath Badly]_

 _Stinky dude_

 _Quest Rank: E_

 _Objective: Hey, so uh, I haven't taken a bath in a few days, since my bath scrub is too old and moldy to use anymore. I'd buy another one but I don't have any money at the moment. So I got this ingenious idea to use a Shampuru Ear! I mean it's called a Shampuru Ear so it must be related to the bath, right? So yeah, can you get me some?_

 _Planeptune: +3%_

 _Lastation: -3%_

[QUEST ACCEPTED]

What, so they're going to do a quest for some guy who was too lazy to get his own bath scrub? Like CPU, I suppose...

"Okay, we're all set~!" **Plutia** says in affirmation.

"So I see we are off to obtain this... 'Shampuru Ear', yes? Where do we find this object?"

 **Plutia** puts a finger to her chin in thought. "Um, I think I remember that Shampurus are in the [Zeca Ruins No.2]... Let's hurry up and finish this quest so we could get the work done and over with~!"

 **\- ZECA RUINS NO.2 -**

"We have arrived. So, where do we start searching for these 'Shampurus' that was mentioned in the aforementioned request?" **Momus** asks.

"It shouldn't be too hard~! They're everywhere, after all~!" **Plutia** replies cheerily.

 **Momus** stares at her, clearly not understanding her words. "What?"

At that moment, the previously empty dungeon came to life when some sort of tiny rabbit creatures started spawning out of green data.

"Oh, that was fast. But this is convenient! Let us engage these creatures and finish this job as quickly as possible!"

"Yeaaahh~!"

 _ **BATTLE START!**_

Bringing forth his sword he rushes forward and slashes multiple times at the tiny creature. Fittingly, the attack is actually called _[Slash]_. The Shampuru recoils from the attack, but surprisingly, its tiny body was able to endure the onslaught of slashes and manage to stand its ground.

"Alrighty~ Here I come~"

Her relaxed demeanor looking out of place in a battlefield, **Plutia** brings out her... stuffed bear? and proceeds to whack a nearby Shampuru. The impact of the stuff toy sends it knocked backwards.

"...Interesting choice of weapon..."

The self-proclaimed great Overlord reacting in disbelief like the rest of us, he returns his focus back on the incoming Shampurus charging towards them.

One leaps at him, but he merely swats it dismissively with his sword, causing it to hit the ground and burst into data.

"Hmph. Weakling."

One down, two more to go. Yes, I do keep count.

Another one comes charging at the plushie-wielding girl, and you can almost hear the cry of "pitiful thing" from the audience as the second Shampuru rushes towards her without knowing of the incoming danger.

Her eyes seemingly glinting with dangerous excitement, she turns her attention to the Shampuru coming at her. As soon as it came within her range, she then proceeded to pound it mercilessly to the ground until it turned to data.

"Hee-hee, got one~"

How frightening.

Now only one remained. Something within the depths of its data structure was screaming at it to run away while it still can, but in the end it gave in to its monster instincts and attacked anyway, releasing a spark that zapped the boy.

"Kh! These creatures can channel sorcery?!"

"Ohh, I see, this one's a [Magical Shampuru]..." **Plutia** says.

 **Momus** looks at the creature as if examining it. "So there are different types? But I do not see any particular distinguishable characteristic to differentiate the two..."

"I have no idea either~! Though it doesn't really matter to me~ It's a monster, so all I have to do is beat it up~! Heeere I go~! _[Fancy Rain!]_ "

A rain of stuff toys seemingly came out of nowhere and fell upon the Shampuru, but not before a giant bear doll finally came and crushed the Shampuru under its gigantic weight.

 _ **\+ VICTORY! +**_

 _ **ITEM DROP: SHAMPURU EAR**_

 **Momus** puts his sword down. "Hmph, that takes care of that, I suppose."

"Aww, wait, we're not done yet... We only got one. We need more..." **Plutia** says.

This sudden news causes the boy to whip his head towards her in surprise. "What?! Just how many do we need?!"

"Uhmm, it says here that we only got 1 out of 5..." she replies.

 **Momus** 's tone of voice starts to get loud again. "Five of them?! Why does one need to have that many - and why only one?! Did we not defeat three of those creatures?!"

 **Plutia** continues to maintain her somewhat sleepy expression, seemingly not minding his reaction. "Yeah, but monsters only drop one thing at a time..."

"Just what kind of ridiculous logic does this world operate on?!" he yells with incredulity.

Game logic. Or rather, Neptunia logic.

 **Momus** closes his eyes and starts to slow his breathing in attempt to calm himself after his usual ranting, choosing not to press the matter further lest his sanity be affected. "...No matter. We need to stop dawdling. Mulling over these things will only waste time. We will just have to defeat every single 'Shampuru' we see!"

And so the two went deeper into the dungeon, practically annihilating every [Shampuru] they came across. Which wasn't too difficult, as the entire dungeon was populated with those creatures. Though the item-hunting was harder than it sounds like, as not all monsters drop an item. The sad reality of video games.

"Hah!"

He let out a battle cry as he swung his sword, delivering the final blow upon a Shampuru as it burst into many bits of data.

"That was the last one! Tell me, Slumbering One, have we reached the desired number?"

 **Plutia** checks the request sheet from a window that seemingly popped out of nowhere. "Oh, it looks we only have one more to go~!"

"So be it! We just need to slay one more creature! Come at me, you little pests!"

He was greeted with silence.

"...Where have those creatures disappeared to?" He asks as he stares at the now empty surroundings.

"I think we went overboard... we beat up all of them so it's gonna take a while for them to re-spawn..." says **Plutia**.

 **Momus** grits his teeth in frustration. "Khh, and to think we merely need one more! Is there not at least even one lurking around here?!"

He rapidly looked around the area in search of any sign of a small fluffy creature. By pure luck, he eventually spotted a Shampuru standing idly by, with its back facing them.

"There! I have you now!"

He rushed at it while its back was still turned, and proceeded to give it one big slash. The Shampuru flew a few meters forward, merely blinking in surprise at the sudden ambush. It eventually recovered and stood up to face them, with the still same blank expression. It is kind of eerie how the monsters barely have a change of expression.

"Okay~ My turn~"

She approached (more like lazily trotted over) to the Shampuru, and pounded relentlessly on the small rabbit-like creature. Yet even despite all of those beatings, it still stands its ground.

With their turns finally over*, the Shampuru retaliates with the single move every monster is guaranteed to have: a tackle. It rushes at the girl and sends her flying.

"Waaahhh!"

She lands at the ground with a 'plop' after being knocked backwards, her plushie dropping beside her.

"Hey, woman! What are you fooling around for?!" **Momus** shouts at her.

"It's unexpectedly strong..." **Plutia** says with a surprised expression.

"What are you talking about? It is only a mere-"

His sentence was cut off as he quickly raised his sword to block the Shampuru's second attack. He was caught off-guard at the sheer strength of the Shampuru's impact.

"What...? This strength is completely unnatural for a creature like this to possess!"

He attempts to swat it off, but the Shampuru jumps away and avoids the attack.

"This one is different from the others..."

That is because it is.

"What do you mean by that statement? Explain yourself at this moment!"

It's a [Risky Foe], a type of monster that is stronger than normal monsters. This one is called [Dangerous Shampuru].

"I see absolutely no difference in appearance whatsoever!"

Don't ask me. Ask the designers.

"This world is simply maddening!"

Though he could feel a massive head-ache coming on, he shakes it off and continues to attack the creature with a variety of slashes from his sword, but the Shampuru does not go down.

The Shampuru counter-attacks with its usual body slam, the attack being super-effective.

The boy is knocked backwards, falling into the girl that was attempting to stand up.

"That thing is not to be underestimated... to think it can wear down me, Overlord Momus! Curse this weakened body of mine!"

He continues to rant to himself again, completely unaware that he is still using the girl as his personal landing cushion.

 **Plutia** 's normally lazy expression changes into a displeased frown. "Aww...! I don't want this anymore...! Momo, you're heavy and that Shampuru's making me mad...!"

A burst of light radiated from the girl, causing her appearance to drastically change. In her place, a scantily dressed woman with a sword-like weapon and set of "wings" appeared after the light faded. Cue theme music.

"My goodness, Momo, you'd actually sit on a woman like this? Oh, you naughty boy," says... **Plutia?**

"...Just who in the world are you? And where did that spacey-looking girl run off to?! Did she dare leave me behind?!"

And the boy's obliviousness* shows.

 **Plutia?** merely laughs at his reaction. "Ahaha, you never fail to amuse me, Momo. Don't you recgonize sweet little me?"

Not sweet.

"You say something, Voice?"

Nothing, nothing.

Recognition seems to dawn on him. "Hmm, that similar phrase... is that you, Slumbering One?"

"You got it~ Good boy, Momo~" the woman, now identified as **Iris Heart** , says in a complimentary manner.

"I have to admit, I am quite surprised with the tremendous transformation. But this form does suit your role as a goddess," **Momus** comments.

 **Iris Heart** chuckles at his words. "Momo, is that a compliment I hear? Ahaha, you're just begging for a treat, aren't you?"

"I have no idea what kind of nonsense you are going about now, but it is time we focus our attention back on this irritating little creature. I sense an incredible amount of power emanating from you, so I take it you can take on this foe on equal ground?" **Momus** says, turning to look at the Dangerous Shampuru standing still before them.

You sure that aura you are sensing is not extreme bloodlust?

"Equal? Momo, you're mistaken. I will crush any opponent who dares oppose me to itty bitty pieces. This small obstacle won't even make me break a sweat," **Iris Heart** replies with a confident smile.

Launching herself into the air, she uses her sword to make slashes in a shape of a V, the amount of damage doubled with the electricity imbued in the attacks*.

The Shampuru, though slightly fazed, is still alive. That is some tenacity right there.

"The thing lives!"

 **Iris Heart** stares down at the monster with a sadistic glint in her eyes. "Oh, so you want me to play with you some more? Very well, I'll make sure I make good use of a toy like you~"

That monster really ought to consider running.

 **Momus** lets out a huff. "This tiresome battle has gone on far enough! I will assist you in delivering the final blow so as to end things as quickly as possible! Be honored that I, Overlord Momus, am doing this alongside a being of your worth!"

Is he actually regarding **Iris Heart** as inferior? ...No matter, his "protagonist status" shall prevent anything from happening.

Instead of looking offended, **Iris Heart** actually looks amused. "That's awfully sweet of you, Momo. While I would have liked to handle this myself, making this a threesome makes things all the more interesting."

 **Momus** acted first, by doing his usual rush-and-slash tactic, dealing multiple slashes with dark energy at the opponent. He then made a great final slash that launched the Shampuru upwards -

"I leave this to you!"

\- to **Iris Heart** that was waiting above.

"Fufu, gladly~"

The second the Shampuru was at her sight, she used her sword to make two slashes in another shape of a V as she flew downwards. As soon as she landed, she nonchalantly flipped her hair as the electrical energy released a large explosion in the background.

 _ **\+ VICTORY! +**_

 _ **ITEM DROP: SHAMPURU EAR**_

 **LEVEL UP!**

 **MOMUS 12 - 13**

 **IRIS HEART 11 - 12**

 **GAINED THE "DOUBLE DAMAGE DEALER" ACHIEVEMENT!**

 _[Need A Bath Badly] quest completed!_

" _Yaaay_ , we did it~!"

That was quick.

 **Momus** turns to look at **Plutia**. "Oh. You are back to your drowsy-looking form, I see."

 **Plutia** smiles back happily in satisfaction. " _Yeaahh,_ transforming takes a _loooot_ of energy~ Still though, we were pretty cool back then weren't we~? We did lots of slashing together~!"

Yes, what you performed earlier was a [Formation Skill], an attack that requires partners in battle to execute. I do believe that was the first time you two did such a thing, so you are given the luxury to name it.

"Oooh, that sounds nice~!" **Plutia** says in excitement.

 **Momus** , on the other hand, was not as enthusiastic. "Is such a thing really necessary?"

Yes it is. Games require labels for everything. Also, it sounds cool.

 **Plutia** clasps her hands together eagerly. "So, so, what should we name it~? _Maaayybe_ something like 'Slashy Slash'~!"

 **Momus** gives her a deadpan stare. "Woman, your choices of naming are terrible. We shall call it a name fitting for an Overlord such as I! Henceforth, I now declare our earlier combined forces... _[Dual Darkness]_!"

 **MOMUS LEARNED _[DUAL DARKNESS]_!**

 **PLUTIA LEARNED _[DUAL DARKNESS]_!**

"Alrighty then, let's go report this quest back at the Guild~"

 **\- BACK AT THE PLANEPTUNE GUILD -**

 _[Need A Bath Badly] - QUEST SUCCESSFULLY REPORTED IN_

 _Reward: Healing Pod (×2)_

 **Momus** heaves out a sigh. "I cannot help but feel an immense relief at completing such a tedious task. This is why I find helping others an incredible hassle."

"Now my job is done for the day~!" **Plutia** cheers.

The boy was glad that everything was finally over, the fatigue of his body reminding him of his current state. He was just about to walk out of the Guild and head back to the Basilicom -

"Now I can use this opportunity to visit Neppy~!"

\- and promptly fell over at hearing this.

Well, well, well! Looks like the day is not over yet for our apparent hero.

Just who is this "Neppy" that the ditzy goddess just mentioned? Certainly not related to the title of the series, I'm sure!

On the bright side of things, today our hero has learned on how to do quests. With the CPU of Planeptune apparently only doing one quest a day, just how will the nation progress, and how -will- our hero help her make progress? That is for our dear hero to accomplish!

And I'm well aware of the thoughts running throughout your crazy fanatic minds:

 _"Who will he end up with?"_

 _"Is this going to be a harem?"_

 _"He better not end up with my waifu!"_

 _"Eww, het!"_

That, my dear readers, is something that will later be decided on!

Until next chapter!

* * *

 **CHAPTER THREE - CLEAR!**

 **》** **CHAPTER FOUR** **《**

 _ **LOADING...**_

* * *

 **STATS**

 **MOMUS (LEVEL 13)**

 **WEAPON** : Diabolus (cannot be unequipped)

 **OUTFIT** : Apparently Evil

 **ACCESSORY** : Scarf of Apparent Evil

 **AFFECTION RANKS:** Plutia {3}, Compa {2}, Histoire {2}, Peashy {2}, Rei Ryghts {2}, IF {0}

 **SP SKILLS:**

\- Dark Edge (Dr)

\- Consuming Shadow (Dr)

\- Shadow Slash (Dr)

 **EXE DRIVE:**

\- Diabolic Devastator (Dr)

\- Dual Darkness (Formation Skill w/Plutia) (Dr) (MenDown)

 **COMMAND SKILLS:**

RUSH: Slash

POWER: Edge Breaker

GUARD BREAK: Down Strike

EX Finisher: X-Slash

Known as the "Overlord of Destruction" for being the most powerful Overlord to have existed in his dimension. However, due to being sealed away, his powers deteriorated to the point of reducing him to his now human form. Despite his arrogance, he is rather inept when it comes to social norms.

* * *

 **EXTRA NOTES**

*Reference to _Gurren Lagann_.

*Combat is based on the turn-based combat of the _Neptunia_ series.

*HDD form of Plutia's _[Fancy Rain!]_ ; Iris Heart's _[Fighting Viper]_.

*If you'll notice, the narrator is making a bunch of _Pokémon_ references in the fight with the Dangerous Shampuru.

*98% of most male protagonists are oblivious when it comes to romance.

*Just for fun: if Momus ever had a seiyuu, it'd be Jun Fukuyama (Yuuta Togashi from _Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!_ , Lelouch Lamperouge from _Code Geass_ ). English voice actor would be Johnny Young Bosch (Ichigo Kurosaki from _Bleach_ , Almaz from _Disgaea 3_ , Emil Castagnier from _Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of a New World_ ).

*To give a much detailed description of his appearance, Momus has short black hair with a noticeable "antenna" sticking out from his head, and has red eyes. His human form looks to be around someone 18-20 years old. The narrator likes to refer to him as a "boy" to poke fun at his occasional childish behavior. He stands at about 164 cm / 5'5", just an inch taller than Vert.


	4. Chapter 4 - To Another Dimension

**Cobaltroid:** Writing the narrator's snark is one of the amusing things in this story. At least for me. Haha. Neptunia is about parodying games after all, so the constant game system references are intentional. Dr stands for _Drain_ , which is Momus's special ability. Well, the notes are there for those who don't get the references, so if you already do understand then there's no problem with that. :)

 **G.N. Over-Kite:** Haha, thanks!

 **Guest:** mk2 and Victory take place in another continuity, where Neptune and the others aren't aware of the whole Momus myth, so their reactions will be less surprised in this one. xD Still though, I'm glad you enjoyed the story!

 _DISCLAIMER: If the author owned anything, they'd be rich by now. But they're not. So there._

* * *

 **HYPERDIMEMSION NEPTUNIA: OVERLOAD**

CHAPTER FOUR

》START

And so, here we have our two "heroes" skipping merrily in the forest on their way to visit **Plutia** 's friend whom she seems to refer to as "Neppy".

...Well, at least one of them was happy.

"Visiting Neppy~ Going to visit Neppy~"

As **Plutia** was humming happily, **Momus** was walking behind her, hands shoved in his pant-pockets looking like his irritable self.

"Visitiiiiinnnggg~"

Unable to take it anymore, **Momus** snaps at her. "Is it really necessary for you to be omitting a noisy tune as we walk?!"

"Aw, but singing is so much fun..." Though her tone was disappointed, her smile still never left her face.

"Well, I cannot stand such a thing. I command you to cease it at once!" He demands.

"Aww, okay..."

"As long as you understand."

Jerk.

"...Grr. Anyway, Slumbering One, where is this acquaintance of yours that you seek?"

"You mean Neppy...?" **Plutia** asks.

 **Momus** nods at her. "Yes, that one. Is her place of living far away?"

"She lives in another dimension~!" **Plutia** replies with a smile.

"You say what?!" **Momus** exclaims.

She mentioned it in such a casual manner...

"Like I said, she lives in another-"

 **Momus** interrupts her. "Yes, yes, I heard you the first time! But are you mad, woman?! Just how do you suppose we get to another dimension?!"

"Oh, me and Neppy use this _reeeaaally_ bright light to get there~" **Plutia** replies.

 **Momus** looks at her, confused. "What...?"

A portal or pathway, perhaps?

"Yeah, yeah~! The voice got it right~" **Plutia** says in a cheery manner.

Still not completely out of his confusion, he stumbles out a reply anyway. "I... see... so where is this portal that you speak of?"

"Just right over... heeere..."

Beyond them, a bright pillar of light can be seen shining brightly, its height seemingly stretched beyond the clouds and space itself.

"To think something like this is just merely lying in some forest..." **Momus** says as he stares at the portal in disbelief.

"We just enter it, and then we'll get transported to Neppy's dimension in no time~! I'm gonna go first~! _Heerrre_ I gooo~!"

Jumping into the portal with surprising enthusiasm that conflicts her lazy nature, **Plutia** quickly vanishes the mere moment her entire body stepped into the light.

"Hey, you! You dare leave me, Overlord Momus, behind?!"

Following after, the self-proclaimed great Overlord jumps in, his constant rambling becoming unheard as he too was instantly teleported.

 **\- (HYPERDIMENSION) PLANEPTUNE -**

Landing abruptly on his feet, the boy glances around quickly around his new location for any sign of light colored purple hair. He eventually spots the girl cheerfully trotting ahead without a care in the world.

He hurriedly catches up to her and begins talking in his usual loud self.

"Hey! You have some nerve! Leaving a great being such as I? Overlord Momus?!"

"Oh, sorry... I was just so excited to see Neppy again, hehe~"

...and yet the girl seems completely unfazed by his loudness.

"Ugh, sometimes I have to wonder if it's even worth reminding you..." **Momus** mutters at her wearily.

"Anyway~ let's go see Neppy~! Her Basilicom's up ahead~!"

And with that, she hurries off out of the forest they landed in and into a familiar, yet different purple-themed city, with the boy trailing behind with as much motivation he can muster.

 **\- (HYPERDIMENSION) PLANEPTUNE BASILICOM -**

*knock knock*

A purple plain-looking girl answers the door.

"Yes? Is there someone there?"

 **Plutia** greets the **Plain-looking Girl** with a smile. "Neppy Jr.~! It's been a while~"

Recognizing her, **the Plain-looking Girl** widens her eyes in surprise. "Ah! Plutia! I didn't know you were coming to visit!"

"Hehe, I had some free time, so I wanted to drop by~" says **Plutia**.

"You could've at least told us you were coming. I didn't get to prepare any food for you," the **Plain-looking Girl** tells her.

"It's fine~ Anyway, is Neppy here~? I wanted to go see her~!"

"Oh, wait just a moment. I'll go get my sister."

She heads to another room where a bunch of loud noises that sound suspiciously like video games were coming from. The **Plain-looking Girl** had to raise her voice just to be heard by another purple-haired girl who looked similar in appearance, who was busy sitting on the floor with her eyes glued to a game screen.

"Big sis!"

"Hm? Whaddya want, Nep Jr.? I'm kinda busy at the moment. As soon as I level up, I'm gonna go challenge the boss of this dungeon! And these kind of stuff requires -full- concentration," the **Gaming Girl** replies, still not taking her eyes off the screen.

"Yes, but, Plutia came by here to see you so I was hoping-"

This news makes the **Gaming Girl** 's head turn towards her. "What?! Plutie's here?! Well why didn't you say so earlier! Imma coming!"

Dropping her game controller on the floor, she quickly sped out of the room, not even bothering to turn off her game. The **Plain-looking Girl** watched her run off, and started to clean up the room as if she was used to this occurrence.

"Pluuuuuutiiiiiieeeee!"

Running into the room screaming as if she won the lottery, the **Gaming Girl** came towards **Plutia** with her arms spread out wide as she tackled her with a hug, which **Plutia** happily reciprocated.

"Neppy~! It's so good to see you~!"

"Ohhh, Plutie! It's been like a million years since I last saw you! How you've been? Getting enough naps? Eating enough food? Playing enough video games?" the **Gaming Girl** babbles excitedly.

"Aren't you talking about yourself, big sis?"

The **Plain-looking Girl** , seemingly finished cleaning up the **Gaming Girl** 's mess, had just come into the room.

Separating herself from **Plutia** , the girl in question rubbed her head sheepishly.

"Ahahah, you're totally right, Nep Jr. Guilty as charged!"

 **Plutia** laughs. "Hehe, it's so good to see that you're energetic as always, Neppy~"

"Eergh, what was that deafening scream I heard a few moments ago?"

And now, our protagonist, who was mysteriously not acknowledged for some reason we cannot fathom, makes his presence known.

"Ohhh, looky! It's a guy!"

"You're right, big sis! It is a boy!"

"..."

After their display of nonchalant greetings, the two suddenly fall silent, as if their minds were processing something incomprehensible.

"W-WHAAAAAAATTTTT?!" They both yell out in unison.

"I-i-it's a guy! A boy! An actual dude! And I can see his face!"

The **Gaming Girl** then proceeded to touch, poke, prod and feel up our protagonist all over his body, paying especially close attention to his face which she smushed and stretched between her two hands.

"What do you think you are doing to me, woman?!"

Naturally, the boy reacted to the physical harassment by smacking her hands away. The **Gaming Girl** recoiled in shock, grasping one of her hands as if she had just touched something alien.

The **Gaming Girl** gasps. "H-he's real!"

"An actual guy that's not a silhouette... this is really surprising... but what's he doing here?" the **Plain-looking Girl** asks, still looking rather shocked.

"Ohhh, right, I forgot to introduce you two~! This is Momo~! I picked him up from a forest and he's staying over at my place~" **Plutia** explains.

"W-wait! So you mean to say... you got yourself a boyfriend?! And he's already living in the same roof as you?! ...Don't tell me! He's probably gotten you preggers and have like a gajillion kids running around!" the **Gaming Girl** says.

"E-eh...? Kids...?"

In an uncharacteristically gentle form of embarrassment, **Plutia** puts her hands on her cheeks and blushes upon hearing the girl's comment.

 **Momus** stares at her in bewilderment. "Hm? Why has your face turned red all of a sudden, Slumbering One? And just what kind of nonsense is this girl blubbering about?"

And of course he's oblivious.

Meanwhile, the **Gaming Girl** continues to rant on endlessly, her mind jumping into various wild conclusions.

"Waaahhh! I haven't seen you in a week and then it turns out this happened! Betcha you were reeeaaallly busy during the entire week with your new boyfie, didn't you?! You didn't even invite me to your wedding! And I thought we were best buds! Plutie, you meanie! I'd go rant some more, but I'm kinda worried that I'll break the character limit! Waaahhhh!"

The **Plain-looking Girl** turns to the girl in worry. "B-big sis, calm down. Though this is all so sudden, we need to respect Plutia's decisions in her life..."

The situation seems to be spiraling out of control...

"Hmm? What seems to be the matter? I've been hearing a lot of noises..."

And suddenly, another similarly tiny fairy enters the room.

"Wahhh, Histy! Plutie got married and she didn't tell me! Comfort me, my little sis!" The **Gaming Girl** cries out dramatically as she hugs the **Plain-looking Girl.**

"O-oh, big sis...!"

The **Big Version of Histoire** looked around the people in the room, to the purple-haired girl bawling into the other purple-haired girl's shoulders as she attempted to comfort her, to the blushing yet other purple-haired girl, and to the boy with the gravity-defying cowlick looking on with a weirded out expression.

"...I do believe this situation requires some explaining to do."

*MUCH EXPLANATIONS REQUIRED LATER*

"Ohh, so you two aren't married. You should have said so earlier," says the **Gaming** **Girl** , having calmed down.

"Then again, big sis, you were the one who jumped into conclusions all of a sudden..." the **Plain-looking Girl** tells her.

The **Big Version of Histoire** gives her a scolding look laced with exasperation. "Honestly, Neptune. This is why you need to make sure of the situation first."

"But there was a guy right before my eyes! That isn't some random NPC! So I thought something serious was going on and stuff..." the **Gaming Girl** replies.

"I'm sorry, my sister and I seemed to have gotten carried away..." the **Plain-looking Girl** says apologetically.

 **Momus** crosses his arms in response. "I do not know what exactly goes on in that small head of yours, nor do I know what was this 'marriage' that you kept speaking of, but as long as you have ceased your noisy blabbering, I am content."

The **Gaming Girl** lets out a laugh. "Ahaha, that's some real cool acting skills you've got there. You sound like a totally old guy!"

 **Momus** , of course, takes offense at her words. "What?! You dare insult my manner of speech?! My words are perfectly customary! They are fitting for a great Overlord such as I, Overlord Momus!"

The **Plain-looking Girl** looks startled. "O-Overlord...?!"

The **Gaming Girl** , however, continues on cheerily. "Aww, you don't have to pretend. I'll understand if you have some weird role-playing habit."

"Role-playing...?" **Momus** repeats in confusion.

"He's not lying, Neppy~ Momo came from another dimension~!" **Plutia** says.

"Momus... the name is rather familiar... However, I cannot deny that I do detect some dangerous power within you, though faint it may be..." the **Big Version of Histoire** says in a serious tone.

"Whoa Histy, you got serious all of a sudden... so he's not kidding about the Overlord stuff?" the **Gaming Girl** asks.

"T-then, shouldn't we do something about him?!" the **Plain-looking Girl** says worriedly.

"It's fine~ Momo's been asleep for a _looong_ time, so he's not powerful as he used to anymore~" **Plutia** assures nonchalantly.

"Ohhh, I get it. You got depowered. Writers do that to crazy powerful characters all the time so they won't break the game! That must suck," the **Gaming Girl** says.

 **Momus** raises a clenched fist in frustration. "It is most regrettable that I am not at my full strength, but no matter! I am Overlord Momus! I will not lose to anyone!"

"While I'm not exactly on board with having someone like you running around freely... I take it that you have already discussed this with the other me?" the **Big Version of Histoire** asks.

"Yep~ Mini-Histy's all okay with it as long as he helps out~" **Plutia** replies.

"I see... well, as long as she approves of it, then I won't have anymore objections," the **Big Version of Histoire** says.

Seeing that the topic was over, the **Gaming Girl** breaks the serious mood in the air by focusing her attention back on **Plutia**. "Wow! You got yourself a new helper, Plutie? That's so lucky! Wish I had someone to do all the work for me too. Then I could just play games all day!"

The **Big Version of Histoire** gazes at the **Gaming Girl** with exasperation. "It's not like you're not doing that all the time, Neptune..."

The **Gaming Girl** sweatdrops. "Ahahaha... aww, Histy, no need to give the angry face..."

"Which reminds me, have you two done your work today?" the **Big Version of Histoire** asks sternly.

The **Plain-looking Girl** 's eyes widen in realization. "Ah... that's right..."

"Well, I was gonna get started, but then my pre-ordered game finally came in! So I just had to give it a test-run, ya know?" the **Gaming Girl** explains.

The girl's answer did not seem to amuse the slightly-bigger-but-still-tiny-floating-book-girl. She closed her eyes in irritation as her entire body started shaking.

"You two..."

"Oh dear..." the **Plain-looking Girl** says, looking worriedly at the trembling fairy.

"Whoa, I think Histy's gonna explode!" the **Gaming Girl** exclaims, taking a wary step back.

The **Big Version of Histoire** then opens her eyes and glares at the two girls. "Get to work this instant! Planeptune's shares have been decreasing as of late, and those shares aren't going to grow on their own! Now go!"

"Y-yes!"

"Eep! Okay, okay! No need to get your pages all crumpled, Histy! We're going!"

The two girls quickly ran out of the room, the boy and spacey girl staring after them.

"Aww, Neppy and Neppy Jr. left..." **Plutia** says disappointingly.

 **Momus** turns to the **Big Version of Histoire**. "I must ask... are all Planeptune deities this lazy?"

The **Big Version of Histoire** sighs. "Unfortunately, yes. Nepgear is usually more reliable, but I'm afraid that she simply follows Neptune's whims too much. It's about time those two started shaping up to be proper CPUs, so I have to make sure they don't shirk their duties."

"Too bad... I wanted to hang out with Neppy..."

Why not just follow them?

Hearing this, **Momus** reacts. "What?!"

 **Plutia** 's face brightens. "Ohh, that's a great idea~!"

"Oh, if that's the case, then those two will be heading to the Guild. You may catch up to them there, if you wish," the **Big Version of Histoire** says.

"Okay, let's get going~! See you, Big Histy~!"

Giving a farewell to the **Big Version of Histoire** , **Plutia** turns towards the door and begins to head out.

 **Momus** groans. "Ugh, more Guild requests...?"

The life of a "protagonist" is never easy.

 **\- PLANEPTUNE GUILD -**

"Hmm, I wonder what kind of quest we should do..."

"Hey, this one's just an item-gathering request! This oughta be easy!"

As the purple duo were busy staring at the quest board, our other usual duo finally catch up to them.

"There you are~!" **Plutia** calls out airily, with an irritated Overlord following after.

"Oh, Plutia and Momus... what are you two doing here?" the **Plain-looking Girl** asks.

"We wanted to tag along with you two and help out~" **Plutia** replies.

"Really?! That's totally awesomesauce! The more the merrier! We're off to go get some [Gel Feelers] at the [Virtua Forest Safe Zone]!"

"As long as we finish this without any complications, I have no complaints. Be honored that I am assisting you," **Momus** says in a superior tone.

The **Gaming Girl** seems to find his comment amusing. "That's some confidence you have there, bud. Oh yeah! Since you're joining our party, we gotta introduce ourselves first! As totally fitting my nickname is, it's bad taste to never mention the main character's name."

The **Plain-looking Girl** looks like she agrees with that statement. "Also, I'd like it if the narration stops referring to me as a plain girl..."

Dramatically posing on the spot, the **Gaming Girl** introduces herself. "Righty-o! I am the one and only, main character of all main characters! 'Tis I! Neptune! And before you ask, no, I can't control water. And I'm not a planet. Though it'd be really cool if I had both of those stuff..."

The taller purple-haired girl next to her bows. "And I'm Nepgear. Pleased to meet you. Though I don't have an interesting personality like my sister's, I do hope you don't find me completely boring..."

 **NEPTUNE HAS BEEN ADDED.**

 **NEPGEAR HAS BEEN ADDED.**

"Are your introductions done? Then let us get going."

 **Momus** then turns his back to them and walks off.

 **Neptune** places her hands on her hips. "Sheesh, that guy's colder than Lowee."

He will get better. Hopefully.

"Meh, yeah. Those kind of characters always go through character development. If we raise his meter to 100, he'll love us for sure! Anyway, we better catch up with him. Let's-a go!*" **Neptune** says with determination as she zooms off.

"Ah, big sis! Wait!"

 **Nepgear** quickly runs after her hyper sister, leaving the sleepy CPU of the other dimension behind.

"Wait for _meeee~_!"

 **\- VIRTUA FOREST SAFE ZONE -**

"Alrighty, heeere we arrrre!" **Neptune** announces as they enter the dungeon.

"Was that proclamation mandatory?" **Momus** asks with a deadpan voice.

"Well, yeah, I have to heat things up a little here. This dungeon's filled with low-level monsters, so I betcha we're gonna finish things real quick. So we should liven things up so we won't get bored!" **Neptune** replies.

"Neppy's always full of energy~" **Plutia** comments.

"My sister really knows how to make things more fun," **Nepgear** says with adoration in her voice.

But **Momus** dismisses the matter. "Yes, yes, I see your point, Sprightly One. But if we merely dawdle here, we will accomplish nothing. So stop this chatter and let us be on our way."

 **Neptune** pouts at him. "Boo, why you gotta be a killjoy?"

"But he does have a point though. If we don't get moving, Histoire is going to give us a huge lecture again," **Nepgear** tells her.

"D'oh! I'd rather take on the final boss than face that! Okay, let's get going! Dilly dally, shilly shally!*" **Neptune** quickly rushes further into the dungeon, making **Momus** heave out a sigh and follows the girl with the other two.

"So, where does one find these 'Gel Feelers'?" **Momus** asks once they've successfully caught up with the hyper young girl.

"You get them from [Jellyfish Dogoo]," **Nepgear** answers.

Hearing that, the boy abruptly stops walking.

"...Dogoo, you say?"

"Is something the matter?" **Nepgear** asks in concern, also stopping in place.

"Dogoo... to think I would face those wretched creatures once again...!" **Momus** starts to say in an eerily calm voice, a dark and murderous aura seeping out from his body.

Even **Neptune** starts to look worried. "Uh, dude? You okay?"

"I don't get it, but for some reason Momo doesn't like Dogoos very much..." **Plutia** explains.

"Yeah, no kidding. I mean, there's this dark stuff coming out from him!" **Neptune** exclaims.

"To be given the opportunity to give them much needed retaliation... this must be fate...!" He continues to mutter to himself.

No, it's just the common enemy ratio. You were bound to encounter them later at some point either way.

"Um, speaking of which, there's actually one coming at us right now!" **Nepgear** says.

And indeed, one was rushing straight towards them, a red exclamation point on top of its head.

"What are those repulsive dangling things below it?!" **Momus** asks, spotting its green tentacles moving about as it draws near.

"It's called 'Jellyfish' for a reason, ya know. Though in my opinion, it should have been called 'Octogoo'. 'Cause it looks more like an octopus with those things," **Neptune** responds in a laid-back manner in contrast to the boy's horrified one.

 **Momus** 's eyes started to twitch. A Dogoo was bad enough as it is, but to add those tentacle-like things? He could feel the nausea starting to build up in his body just imagining what would happen if one were to touch him with their stickiness...

With one huge - and rather frantic - slash, the [Jellyfish Dogoo] dissipates into data.

"Oooh, that was quick~!" **Plutia** says.

"See, told ya this would be easy. Hooray for higher levels!" **Neptune** cheers, raising a fist in the air.

Actually, it's because this is a starter dungeon, so it's natural that the enemies would seem weaker now.

"Geez, you didn't have to ruin the mood, narrator dude!" **Neptune** says.

Like I've said before, I have no gender. And was that rhyme intentional?

 **Nepgear** examines the spot where the monster disappeared. "It doesn't look like it dropped anything. There isn't even an item notification, so I guess we'll have to defeat more Jellyfish Dogoos until we get some who drop Gel Feelers."

 **Momus** stares ahead, face devoid of any emotion. Well, unless you count the vicious look in his eyes and aura leaking out from him.

"It does not matter how many of them they are, I will annihilate every single one."

"You've got this crazy look in your eye..." **Neptune** comments with a nervous sweatdrop.

And so, they continued on their quest to obtain [Gel Feelers]. Then again, **Momus** was the one who ended up doing most of the work, as he practically ran his sword through any single blue creature that came within his sight as the other three kept track of the drops that were made.

* * *

While on his killing spree, it just so happens they ended up in some part of the dungeon where a huge whale happened to be magically flying by itself.

"Just what manner of being is that?!" **Momus** exclaims upon seeing the creature.

"Oh, that's one of them whale monsters," **Neptune** replies nonchalantly as if she was used to it.

"But it is levitating! On land! Does no one see the error of its place of habitat?!" **Momus** continues to say incredulously.

 **Neptune** shrugs. "Yeah, it is pretty weird to see a flying whale in the middle of a forest, but hey, that's what the game designers planned. Can't do anything about that. And besides, weird monsters always pop up in video games anyways."

 **Momus** 's eye twitches again, his mind still in disbelief that monsters of this design exist. To get rid of the impending head-ache, he focuses his attention elsewhere.

"Unlike normal foes, this does not seem to be noticing our presence."

They were standing right next to it, and yet the gigantic whale seems to be floating idly by as if they weren't there.

"Usually that happens when-" **Nepgear** starts to say, but then the whale makes an sudden turn and happens to make contact, a blaring alarm sounding out of nowhere.

 _ **SURPRISE ATTACK!**_

The whale releases a wave of breath from its mouth, making the four frantically dodge it due to its surprising force.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up! I'm pretty sure monsters in this dungeon aren't supposed to rack up crazy damage points like that!" **Neptune** exclaims.

It just so happens this is a [Tough Foe]. A [Saint Whale] to be exact.

"What the heck is that thing doing here?! This place is supposed to be called 'safe zone'! There's totally nothing safe about that thing!"

"Big sis, stronger monsters tend to spawn in previously visited dungeons as extra bosses. This one is no different," **Nepgear** explains in an effort to calm the panicking purple-haired girl next to her.

 **Momus** just stares at the floating whale coolly with his sword ready. "You may deem this levitating incongruity before us as 'strong', but the fact does not change that it is still one of the many creatures that will be brought down eventually."

This seems to make **Neptune** snap out from her initial panic. "Hmm, yeah, there's no point worrying about it now. It's the main character's job to defeat every single monster that comes their way!"

She brings out a disk that morphs into a wooden sword (of all things)*. Once it materialized in her hands, she stares at it blankly, heroic mood now gone.

"Hey, wait a minute... what happened to my super cool katana? Why am I stuck with this again? I mean, don't get me wrong, wooden swords are awesome too, but equipping these give me lower stats..."

 **Nepgear** 's eyes widen. "B-big sis! This could only mean that your level got reset again...!"

 **Neptune** merely laughs. "Nah, there's no way that's possible...!"

She opens the menu screen.

 **NEPTUNE LEVEL 5**

"...SONNA BAKANA!* I'm level 5 again?! How could this have happened?! I'm pretty sure I was level 99 at the final chapter!"

"Big sis, after the incident, you have been slacking off again..." **Nepgear** slowly says.

Also, since this is an entirely new storyline, levels have been reset for convenience's sake and prevent OP characters.

"That's not convenient at all!"

While **Neptune** was despairing at the fact that this was not a New Game+, **Momus** and **Plutia** had been just been there standing off to the side and listening in.

"Did Neppy get weaker...?" **Plutia** asks out loud, tilting her head.

 **Momus** heaves out an exasperated sigh. "It appears that debilitating is a common circumstance in this world..."

Another breath-wave from the whale breaks through the casual mood. The four quickly react by dodging the attack once more.

"Normally, I'd say we go for it, but I don't wanna risk dying, so I think this calls for a strategical retreat," **Neptune** says, turning back and heading to the opposite direction, smacking her face into a sudden invisible green wall.

"That was not present there before!" **Momus** exclaims.

"That force field is meant to limit the battlefield," **Nepgear** explains.

"Yeah, and this is the part where we're supposed to run away... huh? The [Flee] button isn't showing up!" **Neptune** starts to run her hands all over the invisible wall in a desperate motion.

"Uh-oh... does that mean we can't run away...?" **Plutia** voices out loud.

"Oh, come on! This isn't fair! ...Okay, I know that being the heroine, I'm supposed to take on the bad guys and be victorious despite my low level because of my heroic determination and all that... but, yeah, this is reality, people. No matter how you look at it, I'm gonna die if I get hit by that thing! So, Nep Jr., oh reliable sister of mine, I'll move in the back and assist you with my [Support] skills!"

Somehow managing to edit the party's formation in the middle of a battle, **Neptune** positions herself in the [Back] of **Nepgear**. Also quite literally, she just moved behind the taller purple-haired girl's back.

"W-what? Big sis...!"

"Incoming!" **Momus** calls out, as the whale swings its tail towards them.

 **Nepgear** hurriedly focuses her attention back on the battle and leaps out of the way to avoid the attack. "Ugh, I suppose I have no choice...!"

She brings out a disk of her own and it morphs into a beam saber. She grasps it into her hand and rushes at the whale and slashes at it. **Momus** follows after and gives the creature his own slashes. **Plutia** , of course, smacks at the whale with the plushie of a certain familiar purple-haired girl.

"Yeah, go, go!" In the background, **Neptune** cheers at the three. It looks like she's been reduced to nothing more than moral support now.

One of the whale's attacks land on **Nepgear** , making her double over in pain. "That hurt...!"

" _[Heal]_ ~!"

A small wave of light washes over **Nepgear** , restoring her health. "Thank you, Plutia!"

 **Plutia** smiles at her. "No problem~!"

"C'mon, sis of mine! Show them who's boss!" **Neptune** yells from the back.

"Big sis...! Okay, I'll do my best too! _[Panzer Blade]_!" Feeling encouraged by her sister, she places her sword in front of her as she charges forward and deals a number of slashes upon the whale while creating barriers that break upon contact to deal more damage.

"You go, little sis!"

This makes **Momus** raise an eyebrow in mild surprise. "The Simple One is the younger? I assumed that the Sprightly One was seeing from her juvenile behavior and physique."

"Y-yes, we get that a lot... wait a minute! 'Simple'...?!"

Unfortunately, **Nepgear** didn't have much time to react to the nickname as the whale's target this time so happened to be her. It let out one of its breath attacks again, and with **Nepgear** being caught off-guard she was unable to do anything but take the attack head-on. Breath attacks are annoying to deal with as they deal damage twice, so one can imagine being the brunt of such an attack.

"Uwaah...! I'm sorry... big sis..." **Nepgear** faints on the ground, unable to battle anymore.

"Ah...! Neppy Jr.'s down...!" **Plutia** says, shocked.

 **Neptune** gasps as she places her hands on her face in over-dramatic horror. "Nepgear? NEEEPPGEAAAR!* Not my precious little sis! It's too soon for her to go into the light! Phoenix Down*, anyone!"

Wrong game.

"Oh, right... Life Fragment, anyone!" **Neptune** corrects herself.

 **Plutia** checks the [Item] window, only to find nothing listed on it. "Oh... we don't have any items..."

 **Neptune** sweatdrops. "Ah, Nep Jr... to think you'd get KO'ed right after you perform a cool attack and can't be revived... looks like your luck is Rank E* in this story too..."

 **Momus** is just standing there, looking lost. "Has the Simple One perished...?"

Don't make it sound so morbid. No one can actually die in this world. This is the Neptunia universe after all, land of ruthless game parodies and yuri moments. Unless we're talking something along the lines of the Conquest ending...

"Whoa there! Let's not talk about that traumatizing non-canon ending that my sister got involved in while she's knocked out cold. It's pretty rude you know," **Neptune** says.

True. It's best to focus on the battle. That whale has been patiently waiting for quite some time now.

"Ah, yeah. Good thing we're turn-based!" Any trace of her earlier grief seems to have vanished. The power of cheerful people is astounding.

And with that, the remaining two in battle resume their usual tactics of the slashing, the smacking and occasional bopping courtesy of **Plutia** with some [SP Skills] along the way. Those things will not be narrated anymore as they are repetitive and boring and no one would want to read such a thing.

So, let us get to the part where something actually happens.

The whale swings one of its fins towards the two, and as they dodge, **Neptune** continues to stand there and cheer them on.

"It has come to my attention that the creature does not seem to be attacking you at all," **Momus** comments, sending a suspicious glance over at her.

"I'm in the back row, of course it won't attack me. Once you're in the back you're not in battle unless you get switched in," **Neptune** replies nonchalantly.

"But the Simple One has already been eliminated. You do not transition in?" **Momus** asks.

"Nope. Once your partner get knocked out, you can't do anything," **Neptune** replies.

 **Momus** 's face turns into that of an exasperated one again. "In other words, you are useless."

 **Neptune** puffs out her cheeks in irritation. "Hey, it's not my fault the game developers designed it that way! And don't call the main character useless! I still have my [Support] skills after all! Plutie, I'm switching over to your row!"

Really, how she manages to break the system is a wonder.

"It's main character status, baby!*" **Neptune** says, having successfully switched over to **Plutia** 's back row.

"Hehe~ Neppy's my partner now~ Wanna do our thing, Neppy~?" **Plutia** asks.

"...Thing? Ohh, you mean our [Coupling Skill]! Yeah, why not? I need to get some action around here! My cute legs will turn into jell-o if it remains standing for way too long," **Neptune** replies.

 **Plutia** smiles happily and brings out the [Nepped Animal] and proceeds to pound it on its face, somehow managing to inflict pain upon the opponent as well as **Neptune** watches on with a disturbed expression. **Plutia** then throws the doll onto the ground.

"This is so fun, Neppy~! Come on, you should join me~!"

"Uh, I'm not really on board on stepping on my own face, but this attack apparently won't be complete without it so I got no choice..."

The two one make final stomp on the plush doll, as an incredible force also comes down upon the whale leaving a huge crater in its wake*.

"I am quite puzzled. Was it not the combined forces of the Slumbering One and I is the one referred to as a 'Coupling Skill'?" **Momus** asks.

Ah, good thing you picked up on that. Apparently, the author of this story had mistakenly confused [Formation Skills] and [Coupling Skills] with each other. Thankfully, the author had realized that and will now refer to the appropriate names and had thought up of this plotline to justify their error. But, just to tell you and our readers in advance, there will be no separate skills because the author is a lazy bum, so depending on the formation of the party will determine on what you will be performing will be a [Formation Skill] or [Coupling Skill].

"I... see..."

Going back to the battle - there seems to be a lot of distractions in this one - their combined attack seemed to have left a significant amount of damage upon the creature, as the whale seemed to be looking weaker now.

"Just a _biiit_ more...!" says **Plutia**.

 **Momus** narrows his eyes at the whale. "We must put an end to this irksome battle!"

 **Neptune** crosses her arms as she looks down in thought. "Hmm... hey, bud, you said you and Plutie can do a [Formation Skill], right?"

 **Momus** turns to her. "We can. Why do you ask, Sprightly One?"

 **Neptune** smiles at him. "Weeell, I figured since you and Plutie can do it, then I'm sure as peaches that I can pull one off too! The main character always has combo attacks with everyone! And besides, it'd be a waste to pass doing this with a new character."

 **Momus** gives her an even stare, which **Neptune** confidently meets head-on. "...Make sure you are able to keep up."

 **Neptune** grins. "Don't expect anything less from the main character!"

The two bring out their swords, with **Neptune** dramatically pointing it at the enemy.

"Alrighty, let's get this started!"

The two rush in at the whale at the same time, and repeatedly inflict it with slashes coming from all directions. The two then skid off in opposite sides of the whale -

"Let us finish this!" **Momus** readies his sword in front of him.

 **Neptune** does likewise. "You got it!"

\- and each make one final wide slash, making a large "X" as they end up on the other side, coolly posing with their eyes closed with swords in hand.

 _ **\+ VICTORY! +**_

 _ **ITEM DROP: SMALL WHALE BALL**_

 **LEVEL UP!**

 **MOMUS 13 - 16**

 **PLUTIA 12 - 15**

 **NEPTUNE 5 - 9**

"Another combination made..." **Momus** mutters.

"Oooh, oooh! I call dibs on naming it! Let's call it 'Slashing Spree'!" **Neptune** yells out excitedly.

"Oooh, that sounds cool~!" **Plutia** says in agreement.

...They appear to have the same line of thinking...

 **Momus** gives them another one of his deadpan expressions. "I am mystified on the uncanny train of thought you two possess. Such naming senses are far too ludicrous! Once again, it all falls to me to give it a more appropriate title. I shall call it _[Sword Onslaught]_!"

 **MOMUS LEARNED _[SWORD ONSLAUGHT]_!**

 **NEPTUNE LEARNED _[SWORD ONSLAUGHT]_!**

 **Neptune** then sinks to her knees. "Either way, I'm glad everything's over. Encounters you can't run away from suck."

 **Plutia** lets out a yawn. "Yeah, and I'm getting pretty sleepy... I could use a nap right about now..."

"I am not one to show weakness, but frankly, I am in no mood to entertain anymore of those creatures so we should get going," **Momus** says, starting to walk off.

 **Neptune** points at him. "Hold your ponies! There's still my little sis! She's still out like a baby, and we've got no revival items."

 **Momus** just stares at her. "And what is your point, Sprightly One?"

"Can you carry her?" **Neptune** asks.

"No." He replies flatly.

"Hey, you're a man, right?" **Neptune** asks, placing her hands dramatically on her hips.

"Of course I am! Do you not see my physical stature?" **Momus** retorts.

"In that case, you should carry her! I'm sure your manly physical statue can handle it," **Neptune** replies.

It's stature.

"And just why must I be the one to do this? The Simple One is your kin, not mine," **Momus** says stubbornly.

It's because those two are simply too lazy to do it themselves.

"Yeah, that's kind of the reason..."

"Uh-huh~"

And they don't even bother to deny it.

"The things I am supposed to do for such deities..." **Momus** grumbles.

He hoists the still KO'ed girl's body and places her on his back, leaving him to irritably piggy-back her for the rest of the trip.

On the way out, they encountered a [Jellyfish Dogoo] that had re-spawned. **Momus** sliced at it with no hesitation.

 _[Can't Fight This Feeler Anymore]_ _quest completed!_

Ah, right, in all the chaos they forgot that they were still in the middle of a quest.

...But in all honesty, one must question the naming sense of these quests...

* * *

Once they entered Planeptune, **Nepgear** had started to come to*.

"Ugh... what happened?"

"Oh, Neppy Jr.~! Did you have a great nap~?" **Plutia** asks.

"I remember being knocked out in the battle a while ago..." **Nepgear** starts to say slowly.

"Yeah, that whale got you good. I checked your status a while ago, and it turns out you were only level 10. Hm-hhm! Looks like I'm not the only one who's been slacking off!" **Neptune** tells her with a smug smile.

 **Nepgear** can't help but blush in shame. "W-well, that's..."

"Now that you are awake, would you bother to use those feet of yours to walk?"

"...Huh?" **Nepgear** looks down at the source of the voice, only now noticing that she was in fact being carried on the back of a certain self-proclaimed Overlord.

If her face wasn't red before, then it sure was now.

"Ah-wha-bah-how?!" Flustered, she hastily gets off from his back.

With that weight off him, **Momus** straightens. "You ask 'how'. Your kin was simply far too lazy to assist you herself, and the Slumbering One was no better. Therefore, it was decided I would be the one to do it. Be grateful."

"O-oh, I see..." **Nepgear** says, a small tint of red still present on her face.

 **Neptune** then slides up to her with a teasing grin. "Oh, Nep Jr.! Look at you, acting like one of those shy schoolgirls in romance manga!"

"W-well, that's because that was the first time I got carried by a boy..." **Nepgear** mumbles out, twiddling her fingers together.

Then again, he's the only boy around here.

"Seeing as the both of you are in good condition, then I see no more point in remaining here," **Momus** states.

"Oh, we're leaving already...?" **Plutia** asks.

"If I recall, you merely stated that you would be visiting. We have accomplished what it is we needed to do for the day, so it is about time we go back," **Momus** replies with slight annoyance.

"Hmm... okay. I'm getting pretty tired anyways... I wanna go take a nice long nap..." **Plutia** says.

"Big sis, we should also get to reporting the quest back at the guild," **Nepgear** tells her sister.

"Oh, yeah. Hopefully Histy won't be so Pissty by the time we get back. Anyway, looks like we'll be taking our separate roads for the day," **Neptune** says.

"I'll come back and visit again~!" **Plutia** says with a smile.

"Feel free to visit anytime, Plutie! You too, Momo!" **Neptune** replies.

"...This has been on my mind for a while, but what is this 'Momo' that has been being spoken of frequently?" **Momus** asks.

"...Isn't that you? That's what Plutie's been calling you, after all!" **Neptune** replies.

 **Momus** still looks confused. "Call...?"

"It's your nickname~!" **Plutia** explains.

That gets him to react. "A nickname?! I am Overlord Momus! I have no need for such degrading epithets!"

"I think it's a pretty fitting nickname! I'll call you 'Momo' from now on, too!" **Neptune** continues on cheerily.

"Yeah, Momo's a cute nickname~" **Plutia** says in the same cheerful tone.

It'll be no use persuading this two. Once they've settled on a nickname they'll stick with it until the day you die. Also, for you to only realize this after two chapters... your obliviousness is staggering.

 **Momus** 's eye starts to twitch again, fists clenched at his side in a clear attempt to stay calm. "Normally, I would punish those who dare offend me, but as of the moment, I am in no mood to deal with such absurdity. Slumbering One, we should be going now."

"Okay... Oh, Momo, can you carry me too~?" **Plutia** says as they start to walk off.

"I may have agreed to assist you, but I will not be your personal carriage!"

"Aww, that's too bad~"

The two remaining CPUs watch them leave their sight.

 **Neptune** lets out a laugh. "Haha! Those two make an interesting comedy duo!"

"It certainly looks like things are going to get lively... but is it really safe to be having an Overlord over?" **Nepgear** comments from beside her.

"Nah, I'm sure things will be fine! It's Plutie after all! There isn't anyone she doesn't get her way with or possibly scarred for life!" **Neptune** replies.

 **Nepgear** sweatdrops. "I-is that so..."

"Oh, whoop, better get that quest turned in. I still have to finish that game!" **Neptune** says, running off towards the Guild.

"Oh, big sis! Wait for me!"

 **NEPTUNE'S AFFECTION HAS INCREASED TO LEVEL {3}**

 **NEPGEAR'S AFFECTION HAS INCREASED TO LEVEL {3}**

 **NEPTUNE HAS LEFT.**

 **NEPGEAR HAS LEFT.**

Yet another chapter down!

Our supposed protagonist of the series has finally met up with the other apparent protagonist of the series, who still insists on calling herself the main character despite the fact that she's been moved to -just- being an important character. When will Neptune stop breaking the fourth wall, you ask? ...Well, this story has been broken to begin with, so I'm pretty sure such a matter has long been rendered as pointless by this point.

Either way, our protagonist seems to be slowly getting a feel of what this new dimension - no, dimensions has in store for him! Will he manage to keep his sanity intact until the series ends? That is something we will have to witness for ourselves!

Also, when will he meet up with the other CPUs and start the shipping wars?

...Well, that answer may or may not be answered in the next chapter!

* * *

 **CHAPTER FOUR - CLEAR!**

 **》** **CHAPTER FIVE** **《**

 _ **LOADING...**_

* * *

 **STATS**

 **MOMUS (LEVEL 16)**

 **WEAPON** : Diabolus (cannot be unequipped)

 **OUTFIT** : Apparently Evil

 **ACCESSORY** : Scarf of Apparent Evil

 **AFFECTION RANKS:** Plutia {3}, Neptune {3}, Nepgear {3}, Compa {2}, Histoire {2}, Peashy {2}, Rei Ryghts {2}, IF {0}

 **SP SKILLS:**

\- Dark Edge (Dr)

\- Consuming Shadow (Dr)

\- Shadow Slash (Dr)

 **EXE DRIVE:**

\- Diabolic Devastator (Dr)

\- Dual Darkness (Formation Skill w/Plutia) (Dr) (MenDown)

\- Sword Onslaught (Formation Skill w/Neptune) (Dr) (StrDown)

 **COMMAND SKILLS:**

RUSH: Slash, Sword Slice

POWER: Edge Breaker, Wide Arc

GUARD BREAK: Down Strike, Upper Slice

EX Finisher: X-Slash, Soul Pierce, Grave Pierce

* * *

 **EXTRA NOTES**

* _Mario_ reference.

* _Final Fantasy VII_ reference.

*In the beginning of every game, Neptune's default weapon is always a wooden sword.

*"Sonna bakana" or known in English as "This cannot be!". A memetic line in _Tales of Phantasia_.

* _Metal Gear_ reference.

*Another _Final Fantasy_ reference.

* _Fate/stay night_ reference.

* _Space Dandy_ reference.

*Neptune and Plutia's Coupling Skill: _[Even Nep's Shocked]._

*When entering towns, the party is always fully restored.


	5. Chapter 5 - Is This Plot Development?

**Cobaltroid:** Yeah, Neptune is the character the series is named after, so I figured I should at least introduce her early, because yeah, the focus is on the Ultradimension, so Neptune won't have some screen-time in a while. Though knowing her, she'll find ways to make her presence known somehow. Ha. Until Re;Birth came out, NPCs especially male ones were always portrayed as silhouettes, so of course seeing someone who is not comes off as a pretty big shock to them, haha.

 **Epsilon Zeta:** Yes! You got my fictional voice-casting plans right! I know, Jun Fukuyama has an impressive vocal range that can make him sound either an adult or a kid, which is why I picked him in my imaginary cast. Haha. I'm actually just starting out in Victory II, but I'm loving Uzume so far so I am planning on making a fic about it in the future. Your idea is a rather interesting one, perhaps I'll place that in the future fic.

 **Guest:** Thank you!

 **YandereBoy1401:** As of the moment, I'm more on leaning towards two people, but the harem option does sound equally hilarious to have too. I'll have to think about it.

 **Wild Anon:** Haha, very narrator-like. But wow, Plutia being rivals with Rei? That's an interesting image to see. Haha.

 **tcarson117:** Thank you! And wait... what? xD

 _DISCLAIMER: Yes, because the author owns the series is why they're writing a fanfic about it. ...Notice the sarcasm._

* * *

 **HYPERDIMENSION NEPTUNIA: OVERLOAD**

CHAPTER FIVE

》START

It all started with a dream.

...Quite literally, as this is the beginning of the chapter.

* * *

 _The_ _ **Wounded Dude in Armor**_ _was kneeling on the ground with one knee to keep himself upright._

 _"...Like I would admit defeat in a place like this... If you lot simply think that I would let myself be finished here so easily, then you thought wrong! Huaaaargh!"_

 _The ground started to shake, as a massive burst of power was starting to rise from the_ _ **Wounded Dude in Armor**_ _._

 _"The hell's he trying to do?"_

 _"No way... is he planning to-!?"_

 _"This does not bode well... unless we find some way to subdue him, we will all die here! This calls for drastic measures!"_

 _A large rune suddenly appears on the ground, and a massive gelatinous creature starts to surface from it._

 _"Go forth, Giant Tentacle Dogoo!"_

 _Now fully summoned, the monster shoots out one of its sticky tentacles to grab at the_ _ **Wounded Dude in Armor**_ _._

 _The_ _ **Wounded Dude in Armor**_ _could only stare at the incoming tentacle, paralyzed with horror._

 _"GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME_ _–_ _!"_

* * *

"–DEEEARGH!"

 **Momus** hurriedly sits up in his bed, heavily breathing, fully-dressed in his clothes.

Yes, he was the type to sleep with his clothes on. For readers who are alarmed, do not worry; he still continues to partake in baths.

He looks about the pink-colored room he was currently staying in, his breathing starting to slow, as he realizes that no tentacled Dogoo was coming at him.

Oh, and yes, his room is pink. It was the least girly-decorated room they had in the Basilicom, **Histoire** had said.

"It was only a dream..." He mutters, wiping away the sweat that had accumulated in his forehead.

How unexpected. To think the great self-proclaimed Overlord experiences nightmares too...

 **Momus** wastes no time in brandishing his sword and points it at the ceiling.

"You! You witnessed it?! The whole ordeal?!"

Of course I did. I'm the narrator, after all.

"I demand you to banish it from your thoughts immediately!"

I'm afraid that's impossible, as the readers should have already seen it at this point. And even if we do remove it, it would create a plot hole. And nobody likes plot holes.

...Oh, and do stop swinging your sword around so recklessly. It's of no use, you can't harm the narrator. Without my narration, there would be no story.

 **Momus** finally puts away his sword, albeit frustrated he may be. "Grr... this is most bothersome!"

"Uhm, Mr. Overlord? Is everything okay?"

See, you even bothered **Compa** with all your loud racket.

"Tch..."

With an irritated grunt, **Momus** heads over to the door and opens it.

"So, human two, is there something you need to discuss with me?" He says in a grumpy tone.

"Oh, no. You were making a lot of noise, so I checked in to see if anything was wrong," **Compa** replies with a smile.

"Hmph, there is nothing that should require your concern at the moment, human two," **Momus** responds.

Hm, so you choose not to reveal the reason of your rude awakening.

"Be silent, All-Knowing One! Such things are not necessary for disclosure!"

 **Compa** looks rather confused, but opts not to pry further into it. "Hm...? Well, I don't really get it, but you must be fine since you're being your usual lively self!"

"Well, if you have gotten what you have came here for, then you may leave," **Momus** says.

"Right, before I go, I also wanted to tell you that I already prepared breakfast. You're free to head on over to the dining table as I wake up Plu-Plu," **Compa** tells him.

 **Momus** seems to actually looked relieved at her words. "Oh? So you will be the one to awaken the Slumbering One today? Your words are most satisfactory. I do not desire a replication of the events that had transpired with that lackadaisical goddess."

 **Compa** looked confused again, but continues to smile nevertheless. "Uhm, okay then! I'll be seeing you later at the dining table, Mr. Overlord!"

And with that, she walks off into the hallway of the Basilicom, to head to the lazy girl's room.

This seems to pique **Momus** 's interest. "Hm, a morning meal... my body does require sustenance, so I will see what the human has prepared for me to consume and whether or not they are appropriate for my tastes! ...Though, if my recollection serves me right, we did not under-go through such a thing before we had set off on those 'quests' yesterday, and yet managed to persist in the activity without any inward repercussions."

Ah, yes, you seemed to have also noticed that detail. You see, these obligatory eating scenes are shown to prove that the protagonist is most definitely not a mindless automaton with infinite stamina. Though, as much as possible these scenes are only for idle chatter or optional cutscenes as to prevent wasting the player's time.

"I... see..."

Hm! You learn brand new things everyday.

...And I mean that quite literally. Just because you have finished the tutorial, expect that you will be given information at every new gameplay mechanic that you unlock. It's game courtesy!

 **Momus** 's eye twitches again, looking in disbelief as always. "I seem to find myself questioning the state of this world quite often..."

Well, you will simply have to get used to it. The state of this world always runs on gaming references.

"...I do not wish to give myself head-pain after I have just awakened. I will proceed to my meal immediately!"

His mind clearly in no mood to comprehend the confusing mechanics of this world, he rushes towards the place of dining.

* * *

 **Momus** stares at the plate of food that was set upon the table with slight curiosity in his eyes.

"What is this odd, yellow drop that seems to be secreting a white puddle?"

"That's a sunny-side up egg, Mr. Overlord! If you want it scrambled, I'd be more than happy than to make some for you!" **Compa** says cheerfully as she places a plate with the same kind food in front of **Plutia**. It was quite obvious that she had just woken up, as she was staring at her plate with half-lidded eyes with a rather dopey-look on her face. Sitting beside her was **Peashy** , who was already scarfing down her breakfast so eagerly she was getting bits of food stuck on her face and on the table.

"And what of this strange brown tower with filthy liquid dripping from it?" **Momus** says as he looks towards a brown, staggering pile of flattened-looking bread.

"Those are just the pancakes! I placed maple syrup on them, so feel free to take some! I might've piled them a bit unsteadily, so it might fall over at any minute!" **Compa** replies with the same cheerful and helpful tone.

 **Momus** still continues to look warily at the food in front of him, and **Peashy** , seeing that he wasn't touching his food, snatched the egg from his plate and ate it in less than a second.

"Hey! You dare finagle my meal, you little beast?!" **Momus** shouts.

"You weren't touching it, so that means that you didn't want it," **Peashy** replies with seemingly no guilt.

"You little..." **Momus** growls lowly in frustration.

 **Compa** intervenes before his temper would explode further by placing another egg on his plate. "Now, now, Mr. Overlord! There's enough for everyone!"

With his meal now restored, he returns to looking warily at his meal again. If you were making a huge fuss about your food getting stolen and end up just merely staring at it, then perhaps it is best if you do not eat at all.

A vein pops out from his head. "Fine! I shall begin my consumption!"

 **Momus** roughly stabs his fork into the egg and places it in his mouth, irritably chewing all the while.

After swallowing, he strangely becomes silent.

"Huh...? Momo got quiet all of a sudden..." **Plutia** says, looking at him in curiosity.

"This..."

"Mr. Overlord? Is something wrong?" **Compa** asks in concern.

"This... meal is surprisingly palatable!"

Are his eyes actually shining?

"Mr. Overlord... finds my food delicious?" **Compa** 's eyes also seem to be radiating with equal luminosity.

"I will have this next!" In a flash, he grabs a pancake and shoves it into his mouth, then starts to grab the rest of the food around him.

"Ahh! He's eating everything!" **Peashy** protests.

"Hehe, Compa's food is the best~ Even Momo likes them~" **Plutia** says with amusement, watching him stuff more food into his mouth.

*OM NOM NOM NOM*

Since **Momus** practically devoured everything on the table, it was now time to clean up after their meal.

"Hm, I have to say that I found this meal quite delectable to the taste. I am most content with your culinary skills, human two," **Momus** says, complimenting someone for once.

 **Compa** looks happy at his words. "I'm glad you enjoyed my cooking, Mr. Overlord!"

 **COMPA'S AFFECTION HAS INCREASED TO LEVEL {3}**

Hm, for her affection to increase at this event... it seems she likes someone ravenously eating her food.

Still, yet another surprising detail learned about our self-proclaimed Overlord. You do not seem to be the type to consume a large quantity of food in such a short amount of time.

"This is the first time I have eaten a meal of this kind of taste. My diet mostly consisted of monster remains back in my dimension," **Momus** says.

...Most interesting diet you have there.

"Oh, is that so...?" **Compa** replies with a slight sweatdrop.

"Huh? You can eat monsters? Do they taste good?" **Peashy** asks in a mixture of confusion and interest.

"N-no, Peashy, that is unhealthy. I strongly advise not doing it (´ヘ｀()," **Histoire** tells her.

"Ah, if it isn't the historical book. You were not engaging in our meal earlier," **Momus** says.

"Oh, my systems do not require human food. As long as Planeptune's shares are present, I can function normally," **Histoire** explains.

"Histoire! I have something I need to discuss with you!"

Suddenly, **IF** enters the room.

"Iffy! There you are! You just missed breakfast, but I'll prepare some more for you," **Compa** says.

Seeing **Compa** , the serious look on **IF** 's face softens. "No, that's okay, Compa. I already ate a bit on the way out."

"So, Iffy, what is it that you want to talk with Histy with...?" **Plutia** asks her.

"Lady Plutia! You're awake! This is good timing, this is something that you need to hear too," **IF** says.

"What seems to be the matter, IF?" **Histoire** asks.

"You see, while I was scouting* in one of the dungeons, I found a strange black orb. I've never seen anything like it before, and the monsters seem to be acting weird around it. I wanted to go report it to you before I did any actions of my own," **IF** explains.

"I see, that does sound like something that needs investigation. (⊙△⊙✿) Plutia, as CPU of Planeptune, it is your duty to find the cause of this matter," **Histoire** says.

"Aww, do I have to...?" **Plutia** complains, sounding unmotivated.

"Yes, you do, ಠ_ಠ" **Histoire** replies sternly.

Seeing that **Histoire** 's face showed no room for argument, **Plutia** gives in. "Fiiine... Momo, let's go..."

"Wait, I have to go as well?" **Momus** exclaims.

"Of course you do~ You're my helper, so you have to come with me~" **Plutia** replies cheerfully.

 **Momus** heaves out a disheartened sigh. "I suppose there's no escaping from this..."

"Lady Plutia, if you don't mind, I'll be coming along with you to investigate the situation as well," **IF** says with a determined face.

"Okay~! The three of us going sounds a lot better~!" **Plutia** replies with a smile.

 **IF** then looks at **Momus** with a sharp glare. "And with me coming along, I'll make sure you don't do anything dangerous."

 **Momus** snorts at her hostility. "Hmph, if anything, human, you should make sure not to be a hindrance."

 **IF** strengthens the intensity of her glare, looking more irritated. "Don't look down on me!"

 **IF HAS BEEN ADDED.**

This certainly is going to be an interesting party combination.

 **\- OTORI CAVE -**

"So, where did you see the orb thingy, Iffy? I wanna get this over with so I can take a nap," **Plutia** says, looking unashamed of her lazy intentions.

"If I remember correctly, it was over by that area," **IF** says.

"Over by that area", meaning "somewhere in this dungeon that has to be triggered by an event Sharicite".

 **IF** lightly sweatdrops. "Yeah, that actually sums it up in a nutshell."

"So you mean to say we have to wander about this dungeon until we find it? You were the one who had found it, why not take us immediately to the location?" **Momus** asks, the incredulity already starting to seep into his voice.

"Because it's the damn game mechanic, okay?!" **IF** retorts in an annoyed tone.

 **Momus** 's eye twitches, a vein popping out in his head again, whether at the ridiculous system or at her rude reply. He seems to be leaning more towards the latter. "Human, that is no way to talk to me, Overlord Momus, lest you are asking to be executed here on this spot."

He brings out [Diabolus] again, holding it threateningly in his hand to show her of the consequences she will face should she anger him further.

But **IF** doesn't look the least bit afraid. In fact, her face grows hard, and brings out, not claws this time, but blades out of her sleeve. "Just try me."

The two gaze at each other with steely expressions, with threatening auras starting to come out from their bodies. But then, before anyone else could make a move, an even bigger threatening aura overtakes the two.

"Come on, you two... we're all friends, right? I _reeaally_ don't like it when friends fight..." **Plutia** says with a smile that would have looked innocent had it not been for the dangerous aura flowing from her.

The reaction was instantaneous. **IF** had quickly retracted her weapons under her sleeves and gives **Plutia** a forced smile. "O-of course, L-lady Plutia! I wouldn't dream of picking a fight w-w-ith m-my f-f-f-fr..."

 **IF** looked so repulsed at the idea of calling **Momus** a friend that she was unable to finish the word with her eye constantly twitching.

On the other hand, **Momus** was only blinking in confusion at her sudden change of personality.

Thankfully, **Plutia** decides to somehow spare **IF** from her stuttering mess and decides to get back on track. "Okay, then~! Now that we're all good, let's go find that orb thingy!"

She then walks cheerfully past the two and further into the dungeon.

"...Let's go."

 **IF** gives **Momus** a reluctant stare, almost as if to agree having a temporary truce with him, and follows after **Plutia**.

 **Momus** stares after her in irritation at the rather confusing events. "How bothersome..."

And so they continued on their way in the dungeon. As is the norm of dungeon exploration, it was inevitable that they would have the usual monster encounters. This one had happened when one monster caught them off-guard with another back-attack.

 _ **SURPRISE ATTACK!**_

It was just the usual monsters common in this cave: Ice Lizard, Missile Golem, Aimable, and...

Numb Dogoo.

At the sight of it, **Momus** wasted no time in getting out his sword and slashing and stabbing at it until it was reduced to data.

 **IF** stared at the violent display with her own look of incredulity.

"What the hell's up with him?"

Beside her, **Plutia** just laughs, seemingly looking entertained at what he did. "Momo _reeeaally_ doesn't like Dogoos."

 **Momus** frantically looks around to see if there are anymore of them, but calms down and sees that the one he had defeated was just that one.

"That contemptible creature has been vanquished! Let us focus on eliminating those other foolishly foolish vermin*!"

"Okay~!" **Plutia** brings out a disk from the tip of her finger and it transforms into the [Nepped Animal], then proceeds to whack it at the Ice Lizard.

After her turn, **IF** rushes in with her blades and slashes at the monsters with a series of well-executed kicks almost as if she was dancing.

...and what followed afterward was your usual monster beat-down.

 _ **\+ VICTORY! +**_

"Something's not right... all of those monsters were [viral]... monsters aren't supposed to be viral right from the very start of battle..." **IF** mutters, looking troubled.

"Ohh yeah, they didn't have their usual colors..." **Plutia** says.

"Hm? Is there any significance if their colors are different?" **Momus** asks.

[Viral] is a status condition that affects monsters in the middle of battle, where they grow stronger from their normal selves. Their transformation is always indicated by their darker color scheme.

"And just what is unusual about this phenomenon?"

As stated earlier, they are supposed to occur -in the middle of battle-, not at the very beginning of it.

 **IF** continues to think to herself. "I wonder if something's affecting them... could it be that mysterious orb? We should hurry and get to the source of it as quickly as we can!"

Thankfully, for your convenience, with the power of line breaks, that is completely possible!

* * *

"There, there, I see an orb thingy up ahead~!" **Plutia** says, pointing at the ominous-looking ball of darkness in front.

They approach the orb, but are careful not to come too near it, as it seemed to constantly crackle and fizz with energy almost as if it was glitching.

"As expected, there's something off about that thing..." **IF** says in an unsettled tone.

"Wonder what does it do...?" **Plutia** asks as she gazes upon it curiously.

 **Momus** stares at the ball of darkness with narrowed eyes. "There is something rather familiar with its presence..."

He takes a step forward to examine it closer, but as soon as he drew near, the ball of darkness seemed to have reacted to him and started to crackle and expand in an unstable state. It suddenly spread out in the area around it, making the surroundings glitch and blink like a horrible static screen.

"What's happening?!" **IF** exclaims, as she and **Plutia** take a wary step back.

The ball of darkness grows larger and seems to take form. A black creature with red veins pulsing throughout its scaly body with large wings and a pointed tail emerged, placing its four legs with sharp claws on the ground with such force that the ground shook, its red demonic-looking eyes piercing the three people in front of it. It was a dragon, except it was quite nothing like the normal Dragon enemies one saw in the game.

 **IF** looks at the creature with fear in her eyes. "What the hell... is that thing?!"

"It's so _biiiig_..." **Plutia** says with wide eyes, clutching her plushie tighter.

 **Momus** stares at it, surprise in his features. "What is it doing here...?"

This makes **IF** turn to him. "You know what it is?!"

"That is a creature from my dimension... but I am at a loss of how it has appeared here," **Momus** replies, his eyes never leaving the creature in front.

"From your dimension?! Just how in the world...?!"

"Cease your blabbering, human. It is coming," **Momus** cuts her off, and readies his sword.

Knowing that now was not the time for chatter, **IF** removes her attention from **Momus** and into the dragon. "...Tch."

 _ **BATTLE START!**_

 **IF** , being the fastest out of the three, moves first. She charges some energy and proceeds to deal a couple of slashes at the dragon*.

 **Momus** comes after, unleashing his _[Shadow Slash]_ skill at it.

Last, but she'd never let you consider her the least, is **Plutia**. Because of all the battling they did with monsters that had just been omitted from narration, it happens that the [EXE Gauge] had one bar available. She decides to use it, wherein the [Nepped Animal] somehow seems to have grown a mind of its own and is standing there listening to **Plutia** give commands to it. The Nep-plushie nods, as **Plutia** sends it to rush forward at the monster. It pummels the creature with attacks, somehow even managing to defy physical odds and sends it flying into the air, right into **Plutia** 's direction.

"Heeere I go!" Once the dragon comes hurling into her direction, she actually -kicks- it back to her plush, who spins in the air and kicks it back into the ground. **Plutia** smiles cheerfully, looking unfazed by the fact that she just kicked a dragon of all things, calls the plush back to her side, and somehow manages to unleash a massive beam from it*.

...Hmm, it appears only **Plutia** would be capable of tossing a dragon around like it was a rag doll. Then again, this could just be video game logic at work.

But now, the moment has come. It was the dragon's time to attack. It raises one of its claws and swipes at the three, dealing damage to all of them at the same time.

"Urgh! That thing's no slouch when it comes to pain...!" **IF** grunts out.

But it wasn't over. This time, the dragon chooses to release a breath of flaming fire from its mouth at the three.

"That thing gets two turns?!" **IF** exclaims.

The three of them frantically dodge to the side, knowing there would be no chance of them surviving that without getting their faces burned in the process. However, **Momus** had just narrowly missed getting scorched by its flames, the tip of his scarf ending up being singed as a result. He glances at the damage in his scarf for a brief moment and then turns to **Plutia** sprawled into the ground as she had clumsily dodged the attack a while ago.

"Slumbering One, I believe your other form would be more ideal in this situation," he tells her.

 **Plutia** blinks as she lets his words sink into her head. "Hmm, okay...! Traaansform!"

After a burst of light, **Iris Heart** is the one now standing - er, hovering in her place.

"Hm-hm, looks like I managed to get myself a brand new toy to play with," **Iris Heart** says with excitement.

She puts a hand to her mouth as she laughs, as she teleports to the dragon, gives it a couple of slashes, and gives it one final kick*.

 **IF** then follows with her own [SP Skill]. "Stay back! _[La Delphinus]_!" A light radiates from one of her hands as a large beam of light descends onto the dragon.

 **Momus** comes in and deals large slashes around its legs and by the side of its body. When the dragon rears its head at him and tries to bite his head off, he dodges, and does the same when it swings his long tail at him.

Though, right at that moment, **IF** had also been rushing in, deciding to also come in for a close attack; and caught off-guard at the tail, she ended up being swiped aside, right into a certain Overlord. The two end up crashing into the ground with **IF** on top of his body.

"Dagh! Human, what kind of foolishness is this?!" **Momus** exclaims.

"I can't help it! That tail just came at me!" **IF** retorts, looking grossed out at having made such close contact with him.

As the two continued to bicker, the dragon was just right there in front of them staring menacingly but not attacking. It seems to have enough courtesy to follow the turn-based combat rules.

"Oh~? You two seem to be having fun. Can I join in~?" **Iris Heart** suddenly appears in the middle of the two.

"Eek!"

 **IF** ended up being so surprised by her presence that she ended up pulling close to **Momus** out of instinct (and maybe fright).

"Aww, Momo, you're getting so close with Iffy. I'm a bit jealous~" **Iris Heart** says in a teasing manner.

 **IF** blinks in confusion momentarily at her words and realizes that she was seemingly hugging him. In her embarrassment, she promptly shoves him away to his irritation and confusion. "Gaah! Unbelievable! I just hugged an Overlord! Daah! What if his dark energy starts to corrupt me...?!"

Her middle-school syndrome* shows up now of all times.

Ahem, anyway, if I may kindly interrupt your moment, this battle might drag on forever unless something is done, so I would just like to inform you all that the [EXE Gauge] is at the third bar. Enough for each of you to deal your respective [EXE Drives].

 **Iris Heart** smiles eagerly. "Fufu, I'd better start the fun~"

As she hovers in the air, positioned so comfortably and proudly that she might as well have been sitting on an invisible throne, as thunder clouds and lightning start rumble behind her. She flips in the air, and slams down with strong force as lightning comes out to zap the dragon, with an explosion following afterwards. **Iris Heart** watches and flips her hair, and blows a kiss that releases beams at the dragon*.

Next, **IF** rushes forward with her qatars ready and slashes at the dragon multiple times. One of her slashes sends it to the air, and she leaps up to deal even more, and finally makes one final X-shaped slash as she lands in front of it, posed like a badass*.

And of course, there's **Momus** 's [EXE Drive], but that attack had already been narrated once before. Slashing, giant sword, and whatnot. We have already seen this, so basically he executes it and that should be it.

The dragon rears back its head and lets out a deafening roar of pain as it collapses into the ground and vanishes in the glitchy manner it had manifested. Once it had been defeated, the surroundings go back to normal.

 ** _\+ VICTORY! +_**

 **LEVEL UP!**

 **MOMUS 20 - 25**

 **IRIS HEART 19 - 24**

 **IF 17 - 22**

With the monster now gone, the three relax and **Plutia** undoes her transformation.

"Yaaay, we defeated the nasty dragon~!"

"Hm. It has been a long time since I fought a drake. Its method of dying was far different to the kind back in my dimension. It does not normally fade away; I make use of its carcass and devour its meat raw," **Momus** remarks.

"Okay, no one wants to hear about how you eat monsters - and wait, you mean to say that was only a baby?!" **IF** exclaims.

"But of course. It was smaller in physique, so the only natural conclusion is that it is still a child," **Momus** replies.

"Ugh, no way... seriously... and to think we had a tough time defeating it..." **IF** mutters.

"Hey, hey, I'm tired... can we go back to the Basilicom now...? I wanna take a _looong_ nap..." **Plutia** seems to be unconcerned with the events that happened and wants to go back to her sleeping activities.

"Yeah, we should..."

A notification ringtone makes **IF** halt at her words. She brings out one of her phones and checks the message in it.

"Oh, sorry, Lady Plutia, but I have more guild-work to do. You can head back over to the Basilicom without me," **IF** says.

Continuing your work even after being exhausted from defeating a dragon? Such dedication.

"I wouldn't have become a guild member if I couldn't handle all kinds of work. Anyway, I'll be seeing you, Lady Plutia... Overlord."

 **IF HAS LEFT.**

"Okay... Bye-bye, Iffy... come back home later... Come on, Momo, let's go..." **Plutia** says sleepily, tugging at **Momus** 's sleeve.

 **Momus** sighs. "Yes, yes..."

The two then start to make their way to the exit. **IF** watches them leave, paying especially close attention to **Momus** 's figure with a suspicious look.

"If I'm not mistaken... that orb reacted when he came close to it... and a monster of his world appearing in here? That can't be just a coincidence... Overlord Momus... I'll have to pay close attention to him..."

 **IF'S AFFECTION HAS INCREASED TO LEVEL {1}**

"Wait, what the hell? How did my affection manage to increase from that-"

* * *

 **\- (ULTRADIMENSION) PLANEPTUNE BASILICOM -**

"I'm hooomme..." **Plutia** announces in a sleepy tone as she enters the Basilicom.

Surprisingly, there seemed to be new visitors present in the room.

"Oh, Plutia! It's been a while since we hung out together, so I came by to visit!" A twin-tailed girl with a blue outfit says. Looks awfully tsundere*-looking.

"Yes, we all seemed to have the same idea and ended up coming here together," A busty blonde with a green dress adds with a smile.

"We hope you don't mind the intrusion," A softspoken young girl says in a traditional-looking outfit.

Upon seeing the boy by **Plutia** 's side, the casual atmosphere in the room vanishes.

"..."

"..."

"..."

At first, silence.

And then...

That should be enough for now!

It seems that signs of plot development are showing! I'm sure that this brings assurance to readers that this story is not of the boring slice-of-life genre, and will include action in it. After all, writers always come up with ideas for characters to find an excuse to beat each other senseless regardless of how simple the plot may be. It is all for the sake of entertainment!

And so, there are much questions to be raised:

Why has a monster of the self-proclaimed Overlord's dimension appeared?

How have these mysterious orbs of darkness come to be? Are there more that exist?

What is that strange glitching phenomenon?

Just how is our so-called protagonist connected to all of this?

And who are those three girls that appeared in the Basilicom?

...Really, I think the answer is quite obvious in that one.

Stay tuned for the next chapter!

* * *

 **CHAPTER FIVE - CLEAR!**

 **》** **CHAPTER SIX** **《**

 _ **LOADING...**_

* * *

 **STATS**

 **MOMUS (LEVEL 25)**

 **WEAPON** : Diabolus (cannot be unequipped)

 **OUTFIT** : Apparently Evil

 **ACCESSORY** : Scarf of Apparent Evil

 **AFFECTION RANKS:** Plutia {3}, Neptune {3}, Nepgear {3}, Compa {3}, Histoire {2}, Peashy {2}, Rei Ryghts {2}, IF {1}

 **SP SKILLS:**

\- Dark Edge (Dr)

\- Consuming Shadow (Dr)

\- Shadow Slash (Dr)

 **EXE DRIVE:**

\- Diabolic Devastator (Dr)

\- Dual Darkness (Formation Skill w/Plutia) (Dr) (MenDown)

\- Sword Onslaught (Formation Skill w/Neptune) (Dr) (StrDown)

 **COMMAND SKILLS:**

RUSH: Slash, Sword Slice, Myriad Slash

POWER: Edge Breaker, Wide Arc, Cleave

GUARD BREAK: Down Strike, Upper Slice, Side Strike

EX Finisher: X-Slash, Soul Pierce, Grave Pierce

* * *

 **EXTRA NOTES**

*In Victory, IF is an unlockable Scout for the Scout System in the game. While her adult/teen self is unplayable, her child self is available for DLC.

*Slight _Phoenix Wright_ reference.

*IF's (child) SP Skill: _[Heaven Demon]_.

*Plutia's EXE Drive skill: _[With Dolls!]_.

*Iris Heart's SP Skill: _[Drive Stab]_.

*"Middle-school syndrome", known in Japanese as " _chuunibyou_ " - a delusional person who believes they have special superpowers.

*Iris Heart's EXE Drive: _[T. Blade Kick]_.

*IF's (child) EXE Drive: _[New Challenger]_.

*Ultradimension!IF's skills were what her child self used, in order to differentiate this IF from the Hyperdimension!IF.

*Tsundere - a term used to refer to a character who is hostile but has a loving side. "Tsun" meaning aloof, and "dere" meaning lovestruck.


	6. Chapter 6 - The Nationwide Tour

**tcarson117:**...Lol, how did you come to such a conclusion? And maybe that other matter is something better left unsaid... XD

 **Cobaltroid:** It's going to take a while for IF to warm up to him. Her chuunibyou senses are still running wild, haha. And as for the others' reaction... well, you'll see it in this chapter. And yes, the powers of fourth-wall breaking do various wonders indeed.

 **Some Random Dude:** Oh, thank you! It makes me happy to hear that you like the story and Momus's character. And Steamax, huh... I haven't gotten to his part in Victory II yet, but now I'm definitely interested.

 **raymondtan050:** Thank you for your support!

 **YandereBoy1401:** Still considering the harem option... oh, and yeah, you're referring to Uzume. I've grown to like her too, but I feel like the Megadimension Arc should be saved for a separate fic... hmm...

 **UntamedSoul1401:** Thank you!

 **Kallyle:** Yeah, I felt the same way. Overlord Momus has only been mentioned twice throughout the entire games, so I figured it'd be interesting to make another character out of that concept. And yes, I also thought I'd place in glitch references, since this is Neptunia, lots of game references and whatnot. And as this chapter shows, I am continuing it! I've just been so busy lately which is why I didn't get to update.

And so, here's a rare author's note coming from me: I'd just like to say sorry for not updating in a while, had lots of requirements to do. So here's an extra long chapter to make up for it!

 _DISCLAIMER: The author has never owned anything. Like, ever._

* * *

 **HYPERDIMENSION NEPTUNIA: OVERLOAD**

CHAPTER SIX

》START

There seemed to be an awkward silence in the air.

The three visitors who were present in the room were currently gaping at our self-proclaimed Overlord. Well, to be precise, it was the twin-tailed girl who was doing all the gaping. The other two girls beside her were looking on with surprise in their faces.

"I-i-i-it's... IT'S A GUY!" the **Tsundere-looking** **Girl** yells out in disbelief.

"My, my, how unexpected. This is the first time I've come to see a man not as a silhouette," the **Busty** **Blonde** remarks with awe.

The **Petite Girl** 's eyes narrow at **Momus** in a scrutinizing manner. "A guy who's not an NPC? This is pretty rare... he must be a plot relevant character."

The **Tsundere-looking Girl** still continues to look greatly unsettled. "An actual guy appearing in this setting of all times?! Unbelievable! Are you sure it's not one of those girls who just happens to look like a guy?!"

She then rushes over to **Momus** and starts to inspect him.

*Pokes*

"Oh, I'm quite curious myself. Let me have a look as well," the **Busty Blonde** says as she too comes over to **Momus**.

*Pokes some more*

The **Petite Girl** also follows suit and gives **Momus** some examining, particularly his chest. "Hmm, this level of flatness is far too convincing. I'd say he's 100% a man."

*Does a whole lot of poking*

A giant vein pops out from **Momus** 's head.

"What is this madness that has come to?! I will not just stand here and let you impertinent females needlessly prod over my body in such a manner! I will not tolerate such harassment!" **Momus** shouts loudly in irritation, causing the three girls to back away.

And would you really define the act of three attractive young ladies touching you as harassment?

"Oh, you flatter me," the **Busty Blonde** says happily with a hint of pride.

"This is no time to be feeling complimented by the narrator!" the **Tsundere-looking Girl** cuts in irritably, to the point that she didn't care even if she had broken the fourth-wall in the process of her comment. "Plutia! Just who is this guy?!"

 **Plutia** , who had been standing off to the side and watching everything, finally decides to speak up. "Ohhh, I haven't introduced to you yet... This is Momo~! I found him sleeping near the city and decided to take him in~"

"Plutia! You can't just pick random hobos off the street!" the **Tsundere-looking Girl** exclaims.

This line of conversation is quite familiar...

"Do not refer to me as a destitute, foolish woman!" **Momus** says with the usual expected offense.

The **Tsundere-looking Girl** looks briefly startled at his sudden outburst, before recomposing herself and fixes a glare towards **Momus**. "Who're you calling 'foolish'?!"

"Ah, what is happening?! ( ﾟдﾟ)" **Histoire** suddenly comes flying in, hearing all the ruckus.

At **Histoire** 's arrival, the **Tsundere-looking Girl** turns her frantic face towards her. "Histoire! Do you know about this?!"

 **Histoire** sees the **Tsundere-looking Girl** gesturing over at an irritated-looking **Momus** and a nonchalantly gazing **Plutia** still standing by in front of the door. "Oh, it seems Plutia and Momus are back. I hadn't noticed. (◕△◕✿)"

The **Tsundere-looking Girl** visibly balks at **Histoire** 's familiarity. "S-so you're aware...?!"

"If Histoire knows about his presence in here..." the **Busty Blonde** starts.

"...then that must mean he's already been staying here for quite some time," the **Petite Girl** finishes.

At her comment, the **Tsundere-looking Girl** looks even more horrified and grabs **Plutia** 's shoulders. "Plutia! You have a lot of explaining to do...!"

 **Plutia** merely blinks at the **Tsundere-looking Girl** 's distraught face. "Um, okay... you see..."

Skipping the unnecessary recap.

"WHAT?! He's an Overlord?!" the **Tsundere-looking Girl** exclaims after the explanations were over.

"Oh, how interesting. Not only is he a non-silhouetted male, he happens to be an extraordinary being," the **Busty Blonde** comments with interest.

"An actual Overlord... didn't think I'd be meeting one for real..." the **Petite Girl** says, further scrutinizing **Momus** as if having other intentions going through her mind.

"He's bad news! You shouldn't be letting guys stay over at your place, much less Overlords!" the **Tsundere-looking Girl** tells **Plutia**.

"Ehh... but it's fine... Momo's been helping me out..." **Plutia** replies.

"Your concerns are understandable, but in his current state, Momus poses no threat to anyone. As we have explained earlier, having him here in the Basilicom not only lets us keep an eye on him, but gives us additional aid for work-related purposes. Especially on Plutia's part. （￣へ￣）" **Histoire** adds in hopes of reassurance.

The **Tsundere-looking Girl** 's face changes into that of flat understanding, as if all too used to **Plutia** 's laziness. "Yeah, when you put it that way, I can imagine why you're willing to keep him around... but he hasn't done anything weird to you, has he, Plutia? Since you're both living in the same house after all...!"

For that, there's no need to worry. He's completely ignorant in regards to matters of the opposite sex.

"So he's one of those types... how predictable," the **Petite Girl** says, unimpressed.

 **Momus** 's eye twitches again. "Why do I get the indication that I'm being aspersed somehow...?"

You don't have to be concerned. It's something you've been characterized with, after all. There's no helping it.

"What...?" **Momus** continues to look in a questioning manner, not catching on.

"Okay, so I get that he's a typical dense idiot. It's good to know he won't pull off anything perverted, but I'm still not comfortable with a guy, of all things, be in the same roof as you are," the **Tsundere-looking Girl** says.

"Idio–!?"

 **Momus** 's beginning of his usual protests were once again cut off by the easygoing girl beside him.

"Aww, Noire... You're being a spoily-sport..." **Plutia** tells her with a pout.

"I-I'm just worried! S-since, I'm your..." the **Tsundere-looking Girl** starts to trail off as she starts growing embarrassed to finish her sentence.

The **Petite Girl** picks up her flustered state and decides to cut in. "We're all friends, so we can't help but worry about you."

The **Tsundere-looking Girl** shoots the **Petite Girl** an upset face at being interrupted is what was supposed to be a heartwarming statement. "H-hey!"

 **Plutia** seems to be unaware of the two's source of apparent rivalry and just smiles at the **Petite Girl**. "Ohh, is that so... hehe, it's okay~ Momo's not a bad person... I like him~"

If the **Tsundere-looking Girl** was drinking something, she was sure she'd spit it out at that very moment. Or at least that's how her reaction looks like right now. "L-l-like?!"

The **Busty Blonde** covers her mouth with both of her hands in surprise. "Oh my, how bold."

"How surprising... has their relationship progressed that far in such a short amount of time?" the **Petite Girl** questions.

"N-n-no way! I won't accept this!" the **Tsundere-looking Girl** shouts in protest.

 **Plutia** just smiles at the **Tsundere-looking Girl** 's distressed state. Just how nonchalant is this girl, really? "Aww, you don't have to be so sad, Noire... I like you too~"

"E-eh...?! W-when you say things like that so suddenly...!" the **Tsundere-looking Girl** starts to stammer out in a slightly embarrassed tone, a total shift to her earlier mood.

 **Plutia** nods with that same carefree smile. "Yeah, I like all of you~ You're all my friends after all~"

The **Busty Blonde** also returns a gentle smile at her. "Hm, yes, I also think of all of you as my fellow companions as well."

The **Petite Girl** sends a shy smile at **Plutia** as well. "Yeah, you're my friend too..."

"What, so I'm not the only one... and I was her first friend and everything..." the **Tsundere-looking Girl** mutters in a disappointed tone to herself.

Beside **Plutia** , a certain Overlord can be seen fuming in his position with his eye twitching as the girls around him seem to have went on their own pace and acting like he wasn't there anymore. "How dare you negligent females become so swept up into your own mellow affairs and disregard my presence?!"

Leave it to our grouchy protagonist to ruin the friendly mood in the room.

The **Tsundere-looking Girl** seems to think of the same way and switches back to her irritable self at him. "Why is there any need for us to pay attention to you? You're not someone that important that we have to acknowledge your presence all the time."

Her attitude does no help in getting rid of his temper. "You contumelious woman! You dare degrade my - Overlord Momus's standing?!"

"What are you getting so high and mighty about? You're just an ordinary guy now, so you're in no position to be boasting about anything," the **Tsundere-looking Girl** replies in a straightforward manner.

"Oh? And you speak in such a bumptious manner yourself, when you are just a mere girl!" **Momus** retorts back in a calm, equally condescending tone.

This makes a vein pop out from the **Tsundere-looking Girl** 's head. "Don't refer to me like I'm just some girl! I'll have you know, I'm the CPU of Lastation! I can wipe the floor with you right now!"

Her statement makes **Momus** blink and gaze at her with reluctant eyes. "...You? A deity as well...?"

"What's with that totally unaccepting look!?" the **Tsundere-looking Girl** exclaims towards him in an exaggerated, almost comical manner.

"If I had to say, that blonde female over there is the one who is closer in appearance of an actual goddess," **Momus** bluntly adds, turning his gaze over at the **Busty Blonde** 's direction.

The **Busty Blonde** merely smiles with pride (once again) at seemingly being complimented. "Oho, it seems like someone knows a goddess when they see one." She then puts her arms under her chest, giving said chest a little bounce while she was at it.

The **Petite Girl** looks unamused at her actions. In fact, a dark shadow comes upon her eyes, leaving only one red eye peeking out. Which is a stark contrast to her supposedly blue eyes moments ago. "You didn't have to show off your tits!"

"A-ah, everyone...! Calm down, this isn't the time for trivial arguments...! (*´д｀*)"

 **Histoire** could only flit around all over the loud words being thrown at each other, in an effort to calm everyone down.

One not-so-innocent-thinly-veiled-threatening smile from **Plutia** later...

* * *

Everyone was now seated on the floor, facing each other and giving out clarifications to **Momus**.

"So these three females are the other 'CPUs' that the tiny faerie had mentioned once before?" **Momus** says as he gazes upon each girl, the **Tsundere-looking Girl** in particular still glaring at him when his gaze fell upon her.

"I haven't introduced them to you yet, Momo... they're my friends~ They're the CPUs from the other nations~" **Plutia** tells him.

"Yes, I believe now would be the appropriate time to introduce ourselves," says the **Busty Blonde**.

"Yeah, so we can get rid of these stupid titles... just who are you calling a tsundere?!" the **Tsundere-looking Girl** adds.

I'm merely stating the obvious.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"And calling me a [Petite Girl]... you're implying something, aren't you...?" the **Petite Girl** says in a low growl.

Oh, but I haven't said anything specific yet.

"Oi...!"

The **Busty Blonde** clears her throat, in an attempt to get back on topic. "Ahem, I will go first. I am Vert, the CPU of [Leanbox]. Otherwise known as [Green Heart]. I extend my greetings to you, Overlord Momus."

 **Momus** only gives a curt nod at her direction. At the very least, he's acknowledging her greeting.

The brown-haired girl speaks up next. "My name is Blanc. I'm the CPU of [Lowee]. They call me [White Heart]."

And finally, it all comes down to the **Tsundere-looking Girl**. Knowing it was her turn, she has her eyes closed and seems to be mustering some degree of politeness to introduce herself to the so-called Overlord before she eventually breathes out, "I'm Noire, and I'm proud to present myself as the CPU of [Lastation] - [Black Heart]. With that in mind, you know better than to mock me."

 **Momus** continues to look upon her coolly and unaffected by her speech. "Hmph, you should be the one to heed your actions."

"Argh, the likes of you..." **Noire** growls in frustration, another vein popping at her head.

 **Histoire** decides to interrupt before another quarrel could escalate between the two. "A-ah, you two, please, no fighting! o(╥﹏╥)o"

"Come on, you two... no time for fighting... Momo and I were just about to take a nap..." **Plutia** says.

"Wait, who said I would be joining you in your lax activities?!" **Momus** exclaims.

 **Plutia** turns to him with wide eyes. "Ehh...? You're not gonna nap with me...?"

Then **Noire** cuts in. "A-are you two going to sleep together?! No way! I won't allow it! Plutia, I thought we were going to spend the day together!"

"Not just you, don't forget that some of us came too," **Blanc** states bluntly.

"Yeah, and those other two..." **Noire** adds in a dismissive tone.

"Noire, you make us sound like as if we're extras of some sort," **Vert** comments.

She was most likely thinking of it that way. She's quite possessive of her friends, isn't she? ...Then again, seeing as **Plutia** 's one of the few she can call a friend, her clingy nature must stem from the fact that she might lose her and leave her to be by her lonely self again.

"Don't give out such personal descriptions!" **Noire** yells out.

Oh, but I speak of the truth. And besides, everyone knows about your companionship issues. It's one of your defining traits.

"A-anyway! I took a day off from work just this once, and you want to spend it with that guy?!" **Noire** complains.

"Ehh... Noire, why are you so angry...? Oh, wait, I know...! You can take a nap with us~!" **Plutia** replies cheerfully, as if she's solved everything.

"I have not consented to joining you in your slumber!" **Momus** pipes up in irritation, which, once again, **Plutia** doesn't seem to notice or pay attention to.

"Nap?! I didn't come all the way here to nap with you! If we're going to be hanging out together, we should at least do something active! And productive!" **Noire** says.

"Ehh...? But I'm not really in the mood to do anything..." **Plutia** responds with the laziness already obvious in her voice.

She doesn't seem to have any intention of doing anything else other than sleep.

"Eh... b-but..." **Noire** starts to say in a dispirited tone.

"Well... good night..." **Plutia** lets out a yawn and starts to drift off to sleep on that very spot, leaning on **Momus** 's shoulder.

"Hey, you! Don't use me as a means of sleeping on!" **Momus** protests.

Twitching at the closeness **Plutia** is displaying with a guy ('Of all things!' in her words), **Noire** decides to take drastic measures as a hastily thought idea comes to her head, and points a finger in front of **Momus** 's face. "You!"

 **Momus** stares at the finger pointed at him with annoyance. "What?"

"According to what Plutia said earlier, you just arrived in this dimension, right? Then that means aside from this place, you don't know anything about the rest of the nations!" **Noire** continues.

 **Momus** twitches at the tone of her voice. "Are you saying I'm ignorant?"

"Just answer the question already!" **Noire** retorts with exasperation.

And also, she does have a point. Other than Planeptune, you have not seen what the other nations look like.

"...Tch, I will admit that your statement is valid. And what of it?" **Momus** grudgingly admits to **Noire**.

 **Noire** then stands up and places her hands on her hips and looks down on **Momus** from where she is standing. "If that's the case, then I, the CPU of Lastation, will give you a tour of my nation!"

"Tour?" **Momus** repeats.

 **Noire** nods. "That's right! I'm doing you a favor, you better be grateful!"

"I did not willingly desire such a thing, so what is there for me to feel obliged to you for?" **Momus** tells her bluntly in an unamused tone.

 **Noire** 's eye twitches at his utter lack of appreciation. "Grr... well, whatever! Point is, you have to bring Plutia along! As long as I'm here, I'm not going to leave her in the hands of a guy like you!"

"Ah, so that's how it is..." **Vert** says knowingly.

"You're basically using the excuse of giving him a tour so Plutia would spend time with you. How cunning," **Blanc** remarks, with a hint of accusation.

Seeing the other CPUs giving her judging stares, **Noire** starts to get flustered but still decides to push through with things anyway. "S-so! With that said, we're going to Lastation!"

 **Momus** gives her a look. "Posthaste?"

"We're doing it right now!" **Noire** replies.

 **Momus** shifts his glance towards the CPU still leaning beside him, having fallen into a sound sleep despite all the loudness **Noire** was making. He nudges her with his shoulder. "Slumbering One, one of your CPU companions wants you to come to her nation."

 **Plutia** 's head tilts from the sudden movement, but doesn't stir at all. Having experienced what it's like when she's in a state like this, **Momus** heaves out an exasperated sigh and turns to **Noire**. "The Slumbering One doesn't seem to be responding."

"E-eh?! P-Plutia! Come on, you can't be seriously falling asleep at a time like this...!" **Noire** says, having leaned down in front of **Plutia** and shaking her awake.

With all the shaking, **Plutia** lets out a moan of discomfort, before cuddling up to **Momus** even more. To **Noire** 's horror.

"Noire, I think it's best if you leave them be for now. The tour will just have to wait until tomorrow," **Vert** says.

"E-eeh, but...!" **Noire** starts to say in protest.

"You all of people should know how Plutia is when it comes to her naps. She's impossible to wake up when she's like this," **Blanc** tells her.

Seeing that **Plutia** wasn't waking up at all, **Noire** reluctantly gives in. "...Urrgh, fine. But tomorrow, I'll definitely be expecting you two to be present in Lastation, or I'll personally come here and drag you there myself!"

She's being awfully persistent for someone who just wants to give a tour...

"Well then, with that settled, we will be taking our leave now. I will be awaiting your arrival at my Basilicom tomorrow," **Vert** says as she stands up along with **Blanc**.

"Yeah, me too," adds **Blanc**.

Their words make **Noire** whip her head in their direction at surprise. "Wait, the both of you too?!"

"But of course. Since you're already introducing your nation to him, he might as well have a look at the other nations while he's at it," **Vert** replies.

"It wouldn't be fair if only you presented your nation, Noire. And plus, it's part of gameplay flow. Once a nation is introduced, the rest follow," **Blanc** says.

You can't argue with that logic.

"All right then, I'll be taking my leave now. I'll go back to my usual gaming marathon back at home," **Vert** says happily, thinking of the various games she has to play.

Looks like she should be the one called "Gaming Girl" instead...

"I'll be catching up on some books to read in my Basilicom. Say good-bye to Plutia for me, Overlord," **Blanc** says to **Momus** as she leaves.

"I'll be... doing more work, I guess... and to think I took a day off for nothing..." **Noire** mutters in disappointment, leaving the Basilicom with her head down low. One could imagine a dark cloud hovering around her as she said this.

"A peregrination, I see... I will not deny my interest in seeing how the other lands differ from this one," **Momus** says after he's watched the others leave.

"...zzz..."

He glances back irritably at the girl who's been leaning at him until now. "And this one is still not moving."

 **Histoire** flies over to him, now that all the ruckus has died down. She looks at the sleeping **Plutia** with a sigh. "Plutia won't be waking up anytime soon, I'm afraid. (｡-_-｡) So, Momus, you'll be doing the rest of Plutia's work for today."

"What?!"

* * *

And so, fast forward to the next day! We sure do a lot of skipping over to the proceeding day, that we do.

 **\- JET SET RANGE -**

Either way, yet another day begins for our so-called protagonist. They were now currently making their way to Lastation, our so-called Overlord trudging his way forward, looking even more irked than usual, most likely because of the fact that he had been made to do all the work for a certain lazy Planeptune goddess the day before. **Plutia** was trailing after him, trying to catch up to his large strides.

"Waaaiit uuupp...! Momo...!"

He continues to walk ahead as if he hadn't even heard her. What a gentleman.

"Ah...!" He hears **Plutia** gasp in surprise behind her, then a few seconds later he feels his scarf getting roughly pulled from behind, causing him to come to an abrupt halt and feel like the life is being choked out of him.

"Gah... what're you...?!" **Momus** gasps out.

From behind him, **Plutia** is busy examining his scarf, completely oblivious to the stumbling boy in front of her trying to gasp for air at the scarf she has clutched in her hands.

"Momo... your scarf looks all burnt and crispy..." **Plutia** comments.

If you recall in the previous chapter with the fight with the dragon, his scarf ended up slightly singed when he dodged its fire breath.

"Ohh... I see..." **Plutia** says.

"...?! ...!?" And now he's starting to claw at his own throat.

 **Plutia** turns to look up at **Momus** , hands still gripping his scarf and unaware that she was still choking him. "Momo, if you want, I can fix it~!"

After much struggle, **Momus** is finally able to break free of the choke-hold, gasping and panting for air all the while. **Plutia** only looks at him with a confused look on her face.

"Hm? Momo, is something the matter...?"

"Restricting one's breathing is a matter! Of life and death!" **Momus** shouts at her.

Hm, if you had perished right then and there, it would've been an anti-climatic end for an Overlord such as you.

 **Plutia** merely tilted her head at his words. "Eh...?"

 **Momus** lets out a huff of frustration, finding it all too futile to even bother with her nonchalance. He continues to face her, his scarf placed at his back, out of reach; as if **Plutia** might pull at it again. "We'll put that aside. Anyhow, I believe you were saying something while you were in the middle of constricting me."

"Ah, yeah, yeah~! I was saying that I can fix your scarf so it won't look all crispy anymore~!" **Plutia** replies.

 **Momus** raises a brow. "You? Mend it?"

He most likely found it hard to believe that **Plutia** was capable of doing anything other than sleep.

 **Plutia** nods. "Yep~! I make dolls, so I know how to sew~ Oh, but I don't have my sewing kit with me though... it's back at the Basilicom..."

 **Momus** gazes at her with a slightly impressed look, seeing that she -was- capable of doing anything than sleep. "Hmm, is that so... well, I'll consider your offer at a later time. For now, we must focus on getting to this 'Lastation' that your companion keeps insisting we visit."

"It's been a while since I visited Lastation... so I don't mind going there for a bit..." **Plutia** says.

And so the two proceeded on their way, battling off the monsters they had encountered in the dungeon, even more oddities that **Momus** noted such as walking flowers, floating round clam-like things (or whatever it was, really), and large birds (or were they chickens? They had greatly resembled them). The monsters had went [Viral] a couple of times, but I'm sure that kind of thing is not suspicious whatsoever. The dungeon was a longer trek than the usual one, and when they had gotten presumably half-way towards their destination, the two noticed a figure up ahead.

"Huh...? There's a person..." **Plutia** says.

"Hm? That figure seems to be engaged in a fight of some sorts," **Momus** adds as he squints his eyes to get a better view of the figure.

It was a girl (no surprise there) and she seemed to be dressed in a mage-like appearance, wearing a witch hat and holding a staff in her hand. What caught their attention even more, however, was the large brown dragon in front of her, constantly swiping at her with its claws while she would dodge, gain distance, and retaliate with spells.

"I think that's... an [Ancient Dragon]...?" **Plutia** points out hesitantly, as if she herself was unsure if she identified it properly.

"Yes, a dragon I can see it is. But compared to the ones that I have faced, that creature is but a mere hatchling. However, is that girl capable of battling it all by her lonesome?" **Momus** asks out loud.

You know, normally, concerned people will rush immediately to aid her.

"Hmph, it is times like these where one must prove their competency by being able to defeat foes by your own strength," **Momus** says with indifference.

"But I feel kinda bad leaving her alone..." **Plutia** tells him worriedly.

 **Momus** continues to look apathetic. "That person went here on their own, so they are held responsible for the consequences of their actions. Furthermore, they themselves should be aware of their capabiliti... wait, upon closer inspection, that dragon is obstructing the path. How vexing! Fine, we shall assist that female so we can get rid of that nuisance!"

So that's his motivation for defeating it? Such noble intentions.

 **Momus** summons [Diabolus] in his hands and rushes forward, with **Plutia** trotting slowly after him with the [Nepped Animal].

As soon as he neared the Ancient Dragon, with his sword coated with dark energy, he slashes at it with his _[Dark_ _Edge]_ skill, making the dragon roar out in pain.

The **Mage** **Character** turns to look at **Momus** with surprise in her features. "Oh? I was not expecting reinforcements."

"Pay us no heed, sorceress! Direct your attention upon this foe at the fore!" **Momus** answers, his eyes still on the dragon, readying himself for a counter-attack.

"...Hm, very well, I will cooperate with you for the time-being," the **Mage** **Character** responds, and starts to back away from the dragon to get some distance again.

 **THE MAGE CHARACTER HAS BEEN ADDED.**

Meanwhile, behind them, **Plutia** was still speed-walking over to catch-up to the battle, already huffing in exhaustion, before she finally opted for throwing her plushie at the dragon, giving it a good smack, as it returns back to her outstretched arms*.

"Operation start!" The **Mage** **Character** says, as she starts to unleash a barrage of spells one after another. An ice spell, a thunder spell, followed afterwards by a flame spell, and finishing it off with a flash of light*.

The dragon uses one of its claws to slash, this time aimed at **Momus** , so he raises his [Diabolus] upwards to intercept the arm with it, then slash at it multiple times - _[Myriad Slash]_ , swing downwards - _[Down Strike]_ ; giving it another hard swing - _[Wide Arc]_ ; then finishing it with two slashes - _[X-Slash]_. In normal cases, the arm would have actually come off, but since these monsters are made of data, their bodies are meant to deal with the pain until every last bit of their HP is chipped off.

 **Plutia** , having finally caught up with the two in the battlefield, stops for a bit to catch her breath (as exerting a lot of physical effort is something she's not used to doing), then finally approaches the looming dragon, readying her plushie for a good smacking.

*Bopbopbop!*

 _[Break]_!

*Bam!*

 _[Fall!]_

*Lots of yas!*

...The name of her attack really was named _[Lots of yas!]_...

And for the finisher, **Plutia** gives the dragon three smacks with her plushie, electricity sparking out from it - _[Super Thunder!]_.

... **Plutia** 's attack names do really reflect her nature.

Anyway, now back to the **Mage** **Character**.

"Vanish!" - a wind spell - "There!" - oh, look it's non-elemental - "Mine!" - and now it's fire - "Freeze your very soul!" - and lastly, an ice spell.

Now it was the dragon's turn. It shoots out a straight beam of energy at the **Mage** **Character** in such a swift manner that no one could have prepared themselves for it. The **Mage** **Character** lets out a grunt of pain as she has her staff positioned in front of her like a shield to at least lessen the damage.

 **Momus** rushes in for the offensive, drawing his sword and sweeps it in and hits the dragon from the side - _[Side Strike]_ , obviously, then cleaving his sword with, naturally - _[Cleave]_ , giving another powerful blow with _[Edge Breaker]_ , and finishing it off with thrusting his sword forward at the dragon's chest - _[Soul Pierce]_.

The **Mage** **Character** looks upon the dragon with eyes filled with burning determination, most likely prepared to give the dragon revenge for its earlier attack upon her.

"Prepare for punishment, insignificant creature! You cannot hope to strike the Mad Magician and live! Death shall come upon you!"

...One would have thought that she'd follow up her speech with an epic [SP Skill] or even an [EXE Drive], but she just goes ahead and uses her normal [Combo Skills] anyway. Kind of a letdown.

"Rot!" - the non-elemental spell again - "Die!" - such pretty sparks - "Burn to the gates of hell!" - if that wasn't a hint to being a flame spell, then I don't know what is - "To the void!" - a swirl of purplish black energy comes around the dragon*, almost looking like a mini-black hole of sorts, as if sucking the dragon in.

 **Momus** suddenly comes to stare at the **Mage** **Character** in interest after using her final move. "That was..."

Her attack seemed to have actually done the job, as the dragon vanishes into data after her final attack had been executed. With the victory theme playing somewhere in the background, the **Mage** **Character** twirls her staff and places a hand covering her face, in a supposed "badass" pose. This girl certainly has a flair for making things look overdramatic.

 _ **\+ VICTORY! +**_

 **LEVEL UP!**

 **MOMUS 25 - 27**

 **PLUTIA 24 - 26**

 **MAGE CHARACTER 22 - 24**

"Hmph, it will take more than that to take me down. Yet another of the Organization's schemes have been thwarted," the **Mage** **Character** boasts.

With the battle now over, **Momus** de-summons [Diabolus] and approaches her. "You, sorceress. That magic you had just effectuated... was one of the dark arts, was it not?"

The **Mage** **Character** turns to smirk at him. "Yes, so you noticed. I have mastered both the celestial arts and have ventured into that of the forbidden black magic."

...For some reason, I cannot take their exchange seriously...

 **Plutia** is certainly thinking so, with all the question marks dancing around her head as she watches the two.

 **Momus** 's expression seems to border on being slightly impressed. "I am quite surprised. I would have never have expected that someone who practiced such sorcery to exist in this world, as all of the things I have encountered are..."

Full of painstakingly bright moe?

"...Yes, something along those lines, or whatever that term is that you speak of."

"You yourself are a being of darkness, that I can tell as well. It may be imperceptible to the untrained eye, but the small amount of dark energy you are leaking out from your presence is something that cannot bypass my senses," the **Mage** **Character** says knowingly.

"Intriguing. You are among the few to have perceived my power. You are no ordinary sorceress," **Momus** replies.

"A user of sorcery I am, yes. To be more specific, I am one who researches science and magic. But I do have a proper name. I am the Mad Magician, MAGES.," She introduces.

...That's a "proper" name?

Even **Momus** 's initial impressed look fades into that of confusion. "Mages?"

"No. 'MAGES.'. In all capital letters, and must include the period," **MAGES.** explains.

 **Momus** can feel the world's weirdness coming back to him. "Is that so..."

 **Plutia** , after remaining in silence throughout their entire conversation, decides to finally speak up. "Ohh... MAGES...? I've heard the others talk about you before..."

"Ah, the CPU of Planeptune. I have dropped by your Basilicom a few times. The Planeptune CPU of the other dimension was the one who usually invited me, but you were always asleep whenever I came to visit*," **MAGES.** replies.

"Ohh... I see..." **Plutia** says.

"So I am rather surprised to see you up and about. What brings you to travel here?" **MAGES**. asks.

"We're going to visit Noire~ She's going to give Momo a tour, apparently~" **Plutia** replies.

"Going to see my assistant*, I see. I had just left Lastation a few moments ago and had met with her. She was stationed at the entrance and said to be waiting for someone. I presume that must be you two," **MAGES.** explains.

"Huh...? So she's been waiting for us all this time...! That Noire~" **Plutia** comments cheerfully.

Doesn't that sound awfully desperate of her?

"If that's the case, then we should hie instead of wasting time here," **Momus** says.

"Ah... okay..." **Plutia** responds, sensing the impatience in **Momus** 's voice.

 **MAGES. HAS LEFT.**

"Well then, I should also be getting on my way. I could go for a can of Duck P right now..." **MAGES.** mutters the last part to herself as she starts to walk off.

 **Momus** overhears her words and raises another questioning brow. "'Duck P', you say? I was not aware that waterfowls were capable of being made into potations."

 **MAGES.** pauses and turns to **Momus**. "'Duck Tear Popper'. It is a drink for the chosen ones. And it is most definitely not made of ducks as you think it is."

The origin - or should we mean to say, substitution - of the name is so obvious.

"I see..." is all **Momus** replies, as he starts to walk forward.

"Oh, wait," **MAGES.** calls out, making him stop in place.

"What?" **Momus** asks.

"I didn't manage to get your name," **MAGES.** says.

"Hm, very well. My name is Overlord Momus. It would do you well to remember it," **Momus** replies, his voice starting to take in that familiar haughty tone again.

"So you are an Overlord... how interesting. I imagine we will meet again, Overlord Momus," **MAGES.** says, before finally turning her back and continuing her walk.

"Perhaps so, Mad Magician," **Momus** answers, a dramatic wind billowing his scarf and **MAGES.** ' dress in the air.

What is with this overdramatic atmosphere? Try not to get too caught up in her pace. It's obvious she possesses the same middle-school syndrome as **IF** does.

* * *

Somewhere, a certain Guild member sneezes.

* * *

"Momo~! I thought you said you wanted to hurry up~!" **Plutia** calls out up ahead.

She had already walked a good distance away during **Momus** 's and **MAGES**.' conversation, and must have only now noticed that **Momus** hadn't followed her.

"Yes, yes... I am coming..." **Momus** replies, making his way to catch up to her.

The two then resume their way to Lastation. A couple of walking later, they see a large black gate, most likely the entrance to the nation, up ahead.

And it just so happens a certain tsundere CPU was pacing back and forth in front of it.

"Where are they...?! They should have been here by now...! If it turns out they stood me up, then...! ...N-no! There's no way they'd do that! I mean, Plutia's my best friend, and best friends don't abandon each other, right? Y-yeah, that's right! There's no way–GAH!"

As **Noire** was busy muttering these things all to herself, to her horror and embarrassment, when she had turned around, she sees **Momus** who was staring at her blankly with seemingly judging eyes, and **Plutia** who was just smiling cheerfully in what it seems to be amusement in her direction.

"P-P-Plutia! A-a-and that guy! Y-you're already here!" **Noire** stutters out in greeting, a forced smile coming into her face.

"Who do you dare refer to in such a dismissive manner?!" **Momus** protests.

And of course **Plutia** cuts him off again, to **Momus** 's irritation. He decides to let it slide since protesting any further will just go over the ditzy girl's head. "Noire~ We've arrived~ You're the one who wanted to give Momo a tour, right~? That's so nice of you~" she says with a smile.

Her compliment makes **Noire** embarrassed again. "A-ah! W-well, it's only natural! As a CPU, it's only proper to welcome newcomers to my nation!"

"Yes, that is what we came here for, did we not?" **Momus** grits out, with his arms crossed and face into that of a slight pout. Is he still irritated at being cut off? So much like a child.

 **Noire** 's flustered mood diminishes as she speaks to **Momus**. "Yeah, yeah, I know... okay, let's get going then."

Opening the gate, she leads the two to enter her nation.

 **\- (ULTRADIMENSION) LASTATION -**

"As its CPU, I welcome you to my nation, Lastation!" **Noire** proudly announces as they enter.

 **Plutia** was used to coming in Lastation from time to time, so she just walked in casually with a smile on her face. It was **Momus** who was looking around his surroundings and examining the nation.

It had an industrialized feel to it, most of the surroundings were composed of buildings and factories, in particular a large wing-like building placed in the very center, and some sunlight streaming in from above.

"So? What do you think?" **Noire** asks expectantly with pride in her voice.

 **Momus** , who was still looking around straight-faced, eventually faces her and responds, "I have to say, all these ebony shades and impure air present reminds me of the empty state of the villages that I come upon after a battle."

"Don't compare my nation to some ghost town!" **Noire** snaps incredulously. Seconds later, she composes herself and positions herself in her usual haughty manner. "Lastation has so many factories to show it's the most productive nation in all of Gamindustri! You'll come to appreciate it once you've seen it in every single detail!"

And so **Noire** showed the two around her nation, the details of the tour not needed to be narrated anymore, as the author of the story is still a lazy bum. Just imagine a tour montage instead.

At the very least, this particular event will be shown. While in the middle of their tour, they came across an arcade building. These buildings, aside from gaming stores, were inevitable to find in every nation as the goddesses aren't called [-Console- Patron Units] for no reason.

"Oh, look, Plutia! Since we're here, let's use this opportunity to play some arcade games together! I haven't played some games with you in a while," **Noire** says to **Plutia** eagerly.

"Hmm... okay~!" **Plutia** replies with a smile.

"An 'arcade'...?" **Momus** asks out loud with a confused face.

Ah, yes, time to give our Overlord a lesson in modern times. An arcade, or a video arcade, is a machine operated by tokens for players to purchase in the building where they use to play games for their own entertainment.

"A machine, you say...?" **Momus** repeats, still looking confused.

Well, you'll know once you experience how it works.

And so the three entered, and started to immerse themselves in the games all around the room. For **Momus** , perhaps a bit too much...

*WHACK-A-MOLE*

"RYAAAHH!" **Momus** lets out a battle cry as he brings down the toy mallet upon the brown creature's head popping out from a hole. The mallet hits an empty hole.

 **Momus** 's eye twitches as a vein pops out from his head, and grips the mallet tighter as a familiar surge of dark energy starts to emit from him. "These creatures... think they can escape from me, Overlord Momus...! I'LL SHOW YOU WHO IS SUPERIOR! RYAHRYAHRYAHRYAHRYAHRYAH–"

He then proceeded to whack the mallet furiously at the moles that constantly kept popping their heads in various holes, delivering such force to the machine that it was starting to shake.

In the background, **Plutia** was watching on with an amused face, while beside her **Noire** was staring at him blankly with a face that looked like she didn't want to get involved with him in any way.

*DRUM MASTER*

 **Momus** bangs the drumsticks on the drum devices in front of him, attempting to keep up with the beat. The words "MISS" are shown everytime.

His eye starting to twitch yet again, he drops the drumsticks and brings out [Diabolus].

"Miss? Overlord Momus makes no error!"

 **Plutia** looks on with worry behind him as he raises his sword upwards as if to slice the machine, as **Noire** rushes at him and shrieks a "YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" to him.

*SHOOTING GAME*

"What are these unusual held weapons?" **Momus** questions as he examines the gun held on his hand.

"That's called a gun," **Noire** explains to him in an offhand tone as she also prepares her hold on her own gun beside him.

"And you said we merely have to aim it at the incoming foes?" **Momus** continues to ask.

"Yes! Now concentrate! It's starting!" **Noire** yells back, shooting down the incoming wave of zombies on the screen.

"Do your best~" **Plutia** cheers on from the sidelines.

 **Momus** mimics **Noire** 's stance and starts to shoot as well, that is until, he ran out of ammo.

"Tch, I suppose I have no choice then...!"

"Don't bring out your sword again, dammit!"

*CLAW CRANE*

The claw, with a weird-looking dog wearing human clothes* for a plushie hanging from it, eventually falls from its grip before it could even reach the chute.

"Aw, darn it!" **Noire** says in frustration at another failed attempt.

These machines were designed to make it difficult for players to obtain the item and coerce them into spending a lot more money for it.

"Yeah, I know... but I really wanted it... it was so cute..." **Noire** mutters in disappointment.

"What are you doing?" **Momus** asks her with slight curiosity, seemingly coming behind her out of nowhere.

 **Noire** jumps a bit at his sudden appearance, before trying to mask her earlier disappointment with her usual haughty attitude. "I-it's nothing! I was just looking to see if there was anything that interested me in this machine, is all...!"

 **Momus** steps forward for a closer look. "Hmm... there seem to be a lot of those cotton-filled creatures the Slumbering One carries so much."

Would you like to give it a try? It's among the hardest games there is in an arcade.

Now that certainly riled him up. "Hmph! There is nothing I cannot conquer!" He declares, as he starts to insert the machine with tokens. Yes, because your earlier attempts at the previous games can attest to that.

The machine whirs to life, and **Momus** stares at the controls, slightly at a loss on what to do now that he's actually operating it. "So, do I just move this oddly placed stick here?"

He tests out the joystick and sees the claw move according to its direction.

"I see... so it controls its movements..." he mutters, bringing his full concentration on the game.

He brings down the claw on one of the many plushes stored inside, but like **Noire** , it falls before it could even reach the designated chute.

 **Noire** only sighs at his efforts. "Leave it. These things are impossible to win unless you get lucky–geh."

Her face turns into one of incredulity again when she witnesses the raging look on **Momus** 's face again, complete with the usual dark aura.

"Grrr...! I will not stand to be humiliated any longer! This machine! Will! Fall! Or my name is not Overlord Momus!"

 **Noire** was half-expecting him to whip out his sword again, when he actually inserts more tokens and operates the claw for the second time with an even bigger amount of concentration, and glares at the claw with such intensity it almost seemed like he was telling it to be successful or he was going to cut it to pieces.

The claw manages to gather a heap of plushies in its grip, each one starting to fall one by one as it nears the chute. Thankfully, one manages to make it and drops down into the space below.

"Whoa... you actually did it..." **Noire** says with widened eyes.

"Hmph, didn't I say so? Nothing shall stand in Overlord Momus's way," he answers as he goes to pick up the prize he received.

The plush that ended up falling successfully just so happened to be the one **Noire** had been aiming to get at a while ago... what a coincidence. But of course, **Momus** didn't know that.

 **Momus** stares at the cutesy mascot in his hand with a slight twitch in his eye, not finding its appearance appealing at all.

"I've proved my superiority over this contraption, so I have no use for this," **Momus** says dismissively, throwing the plush at **Noire** 's direction.

 **Noire** scrambles to catch the plush he abruptly threw in her arms with a look of surprise in her face. "W-w-whoa! You're just going to give it to me...?! I..." Then she starts to look all embarrassed again. "I-it's not like I'm happy about it or anything...!"

Ooh, a classic tsundere line.

"If you don't want it in your possession, then give it to someone else," **Momus** tells her bluntly, as he walks off to find something else to supposedly "conquer".

 **Noire** gapes at him in disbelief at his uncaring behavior.

Ah, **Noire** , it looks like your tsundere ways won't work on literal people like him.

And now, as we leave the gaping tsundere behind, we go back to our so-called protagonist. He was looking around the area to see if there was anything else to play, and his attention is drawn to a girl wearing torn-up clothing, her gaze solely focused on the screen in front of her, her hands and fingers rapidly moving a joystick and tapping button controls. Opposite of her, another one busy tapping away at buttons at who is presumably her opponent, is a... bear?

 **Momus** looked equally as confused at the unusual sight before him, opting to stand back and watch the two caught up in what seems to be a fighting game, judging by the sound effects coming from it.

"Hyah...! Yah...! If I could only pull off this combo, then...! Wah...!?"

The bear lets out a roar of what it seems to be victory, and the girl slumps in defeat.

"Aw... no fair... I want a rematch...!" The **Fighting Girl** says.

The bear reaches out into its fur, like as if it was reaching into pockets, only to come out empty-handed.

The **Fighting Girl** frowns at this. "...That's too bad... I'm out of tokens too..."

Hearing their words, **Momus** glances at his hand and sees that he still has some leftover tokens left. He then approaches the girl. "Hey, you. I have an additional amount, so I will provide this to you."

The **Fighting Girl** widens her eyes, the bear beside her looking equally surprised. "Ah...! I couldn't possibly...!"

"Just take it," **Momus** insists, and at his persistent tone, the girl hesitantly opens up her palms as he drops the tokens on it.

"Um... thank you...!" The **Fighting Girl** says as **Momus** makes his leave.

Due to the loud noises coming from all around the arcade, and the soft-spoken nature of her voice, he fails to hear it. Honestly, what is it with his abandoning tendencies in this chapter?

* * *

"So, are we done yet?" **Momus** asks irritably, to the two girls in front of him.

They were now standing in the entrance of the building, having finished all the arcade-playing they have managed to do.

"I had a lot of fun~ I haven't played games like that for a long time~" **Plutia** comments.

Most likely because she spends her time sleeping.

Even **Noire** 's face looks to be that of contentment. "Yeah, we're done here. Now, what else can we do next...?"

"Lady Black Heart!"

A figure suddenly comes running towards them, and **Momus** disturbingly noted that he could not see any distinctive detail about the person except that that he only looked like a shadow. This, our Overlord protagonist, is what an [NPC] looks like. At the very least, the title provided sheds some light on the NPC's identity.

 **Noire** turns to the **Some Lastation** **Soldier** in alarm. "Huh...? What's wrong?"

"Lady Black Heart, we're in need of your assistance with some monsters! Some of them have wandered too near the border, so..." the **Some** **Lastation** **Soldier** starts to explain in a frantic tone.

"Hm, you seem to be involved in some urgent matter. If that's the case, then we'll be moving on to the next nation. What is the nearest nation, Slumbering One?" **Momus** starts to say.

"Oh, it's gotta be Lowee... I think...?" **Plutia** replies in an unsure tone again.

"Very well, then we shall depart," **Momus** says, starting to make his leave.

 **Plutia** starts to hurry after him, but not before stopping in her tracks and waves a hand goodbye to **Noire**. "Bye, Noire~! Until we meet again~!"

 **Noire** could only reach out to the two's disappearing backs in dismay. "E-eh...! Wait...!"

"Lady Black Heart, this way!" the **Some** **Lastation** **Soldier** carries on, seemingly oblivious to his goddess's plight.

 **Noire** looks back and forth between the two running figures, one of her friend and the other of the running soldier, looking quite conflicted.

"...Argh, seriously...!"

With a click of her tongue, **Noire** races after the soldier.

 **\- RUD ARMS SEWER NORTH -**

"You say that this is a different pathway... but isn't this environment identical to the one we had previously visited?!" **Momus** exclaims, his shout echoing throughout the cave walls.

"Hm...? Of course it's different... it says so in the name..." **Plutia** replies as if it's normal.

And oh, you are referring to the earlier dungeon you visited, [Otori Cave], was it? Well, you see, this is what we call "reused designs". They do that under the guise of an additional dungeon and merely place it under a new name so as to spare them the effort of making an entirely new one.

"Has the Slumbering One's otiosity even affected the entire world as well?!" **Momus** yells out incredulously.

You can put things that way.

Eye twitching in a frenzy again, he heaves out an exasperated sigh and summons [Diabolus], stomping forward. "No matter! We shall advance as per our normal routine!"

And so they went on their usual dungeon traveling.

Oh, what's that? You're wondering why they're going through all this trouble when they could simply go to Lowee with a quick-jump option*?

Why, that's because this is a new storyline. You know how it goes. Even if one in the actual setting had actually visited it once before, the protagonist must go through it again as the game will act like as if you had never visited it before.

And one can't actually teleport from one place to another in such a convenient manner like that. This is one of the doses of reality one can get in this game, one supposes.

Ah, but not to worry dear readers! It is our protagonist and his companions who will be doing all the legwork off-screen. In cases like those, we can always skip the narration.

And there're always the times where the characters themselves will be aware of the instant jump to the next scene, plot convenience and whatnot. This being Neptunia, those kind of things are actually common.

Via the [EXIT] sign conveniently hovering about, the two emerge from the cave-like dungeon.

"...We've arrived," **Momus** says.

 **\- (ULTRADIMENSION) LOWEE -**

Compared to Lastation's industry-filled setting, Lowee looked more older-fashioned that it was composed of older-looking buildings. Everything about it looked traditional, with a slightly colder climate shown with the patches of snow here and there.

"Hm... I have encountered villages in a similar style like this in the past," **Momus** remarks as he looks around again, walking forward with a hand placed under his chin, as a couple of residents, some silhouetted, some not (usually a girl) would pass by him.

 **Momus** continues to walk forward, in deep reminiscing. Then, he stops in place and looks at the large structure up ahead. "I presume that towering building over by the distance is where the deity resides."

...

Noticing the lack of response from the girl with him, he turns around to see what has made her so quiet when it turns out she wasn't even there at all.

"...She disappeared?"

Chances are, you lost her.

Various veins pop out from his head. "What?! To think she would be led astray at a time such as this...! Grr... as it stands, I have no choice but to search for her whereabouts."

He then starts to look all over the entire vicinity for any sign of that familiar lazy purple-haired girl. He actually gave this description when he bothered to ask around some of the NPCs, to no avail.

While he was currently marching around the area, grumbling to himself all the while, he comes to an abrupt halt as he starts to pick up on a scent. He looked greatly interested in seeking out the source, so much that even his antenna was perked upwards in the air.

Following the scent, he arrives at a restaurant of some sorts where he found an orange-haired girl sitting in front of a wooden table outside, with an equally oddly styled antenna, eating a green and white colored dish with what it appears to be sticks in her hand.

She notices that she was being stared at, and stops eating to look at **Momus** in concern. "Um... is there something I can help you with?"

"...You. I would like to inquire about the victuals you are consuming," **Momus** replies in all-seriousness.

The girl blinks her musical noted eyes at him in brief confusion before glancing at the food she was eating. "...Oh! You mean this? This is 'futomaki'."

"Futo... maki?" **Momus** repeats, testing the foreign word out.

The **Must Be a Ninja** girl nods. "Yes! It happens to be a favorite of mine! ...Perhaps you would like to try it?"

She felt the need to ask him this, as he was staring at the dish with such a high amount of interest that it would feel rude not to let him have a taste.

 **Momus** blinks in brief surprise at her generosity, before reaching out to grab one and putting it into his mouth. With his bare hands.

"...It has a distinctive flavor," **Momus** comments, chewing thoughtfully.

"Isn't it? Futomaki is the best!" The **Must Be a Ninja** says happily.

 **Momus** swallows down the food and addresses the girl once again. "Hm, I will acknowledge your munificence at allowing me to relish this sustenance. I would like to hear your name, girl."

 **Momus**? Giving gratitude? This was new. Must be the food.

"Oh, um, my name... well, I can give you my ninja codename. It's MarvelousAQL," the girl, with yet another unusual name of **MarvelousAQL** replies.

But hah, I knew she was a ninja.

 **Momus** , though his face gave a slight indication that he found her name unusual, gives her a nod. "Hm. I am Overlord Momus."

"Overlord...?" **MarvelousAQL** repeats with a confused face, question marks around her head. Her face then makes way into a slightly awkward smile. "Um, okay then... nice to meet you, Overlord Momus. What brings you to Lowee?"

 **Momus** 's eyes widen slightly as if he just remembered something. "Ah, yes. I had come here with someone, though it appears they have gone astray."

"You lost your friend?! That's terrible! Maybe I can help!" **MarvelousAQL** says with determination, standing up from her seat.

"She is this slothful-looking girl with purple hair. Have you seen her?" **Momus** describes.

"Purple...? You mean like that girl over there?" She points out behind **Momus** , making him turn around to look.

"Mooooomoooo...!" **Plutia** , from a distance, calls out, who was currently running over to him with a look of relief on her face. She seemed to be followed by... a girl riding on top of a floating yellow ball?

As soon as **Plutia** drew near, she rushes forward and throws her arms over **Momus** 's waist. "Waaah, I was so scared all by myself...!"

 **Momus** only blinks down at her form and his face changes into one of slight annoyance. "You were the one that had ambled off on your lonesome!"

He tries to pry her off, but she continues to remain a steady grip on him. For a lazy girl, she sure can grip hard.

As they were doing this, the girl on the floating ball thing had caught up with them. **MarvelousAQL** 's eyes widen in recognition upon seeing her. "Ah, Broccoli! I didn't expect to see you here!"

"I was just out for a visit, nyu. I was walking by and saw this lost-looking CPU and decided to help her out, nyu," the tiny girl replies with a straight face.

"I see! That was very helpful of you!" **MarvelousAQL** compliments.

"It was nothing, nyu. I had some time to kill, nyu," the **Girl with Floating Thing** answers bluntly.

Hearing her words, this also garners a reaction out of **Momus** , who still had **Plutia** wrapped around him. "Yes, time! We are not supposed to be squandering it at this moment! We must be going to that deity's place of dwelling forthwith!"

He breaks free from **Plutia** 's hold, snatches her hand afterwards, and starts to pull her alongside him as they start to make their way to the Basilicom.

Normally, one would be concerned at the rough way he was pulling her, but despite that **Plutia** has her gaze locked on their hands.

"Ah...! Momo's holding my hand...!" She says in surprise, **Momus** paying it no heed as he was far too busy ranting again.

Well, she certainly has different priorities.

The two girls left behind stare at their vanishing figures. And to think the other two didn't even bother to leave a good-bye. How rude.

"Ah... that was Lady Plutia, wasn't it? I wonder what her relationship with that man is...? He said he was an Overlord..." **MarvelousAQL** wonders out loud.

"I'm more interested in the fact that he's a guy not shown as a silhouette, nyu," the **Girl with Floating Thing** says.

 **MarvelousAQL** 's eyes widen. "Oh! That's right! He wasn't, was he?!"

"...It took you this long to notice, nyu?"

 **\- (ULTRADIMENSION) LOWEE BASILICOM -**

"Blanny's place, huh... it's been a while..." **Plutia** murmurs thoughtfully.

The two make their way along the tatami-floored corridors, stopping in front of a single large divider.

"Is this it?" **Momus** says as he loudly pushes it aside.

Inside, **Blanc** could be seen sitting on the floor with a book open in her lap. She looks up upon seeing the two enter, puts away her book to the side, and proceeds to stand up.

"Welcome to Lowee's–"

"WELCOME TO LOWEE'S BASILICOM!" a louder voice interrupts.

"That was supposed to be my line, bastard!" **Blanc** roars, her eyes gleaming red again.

The what appears to be a large mechanical figure that makes one wonder how he fits in the room shrinks back with a sheepish look. "Sorry, Lady Blanc! I couldn't stop myself from saying a greeting, too!"

 **Blanc** closes her eyes, breathes out to calm herself, and faces the two with her eyes back to being a blue hue again. "Right... anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah. Welcome. Please take a seat. Anywhere will do."

Seeing as there are no seats around and just the tatami-coated floor, the two sit down in front of **Blanc**.

"I'LL GO GET SOME TEA!" the giant robot shouts enthusiastically, running off - well more like rolling off with his wheels to another room.

"Sorry about that. That's Copypaste. He's always the loud one," **Blanc** explains.

 **Momus** was staring after the large figure with yet another one of his weirded out expressions. "I... see..."

"Hehe, it's good to know things are more lively around here~" **Plutia** comments cheerfully.

"Putting that aside... I take it that you've already gotten a look around Lowee? How do you find it?" **Blanc** asks **Momus**.

"Hm, I have to say it's certainly a refreshing change of atmosphere compared to that Lastation place," **Momus** replies.

 **Blanc** lets a small smirk come to her face at his words. One could imagine her thinking along the lines of 'Take that, bitch!'. "That's good to hear. Anyway, I'll have to admit I was looking forward to your visit. It's not everyday that an Overlord comes to this dimension. I'm interested in the stories you have to tell regarding your lifestyle in your dimension."

"Ah, yeah... It'd be nice to hear Momo's stories too..." **Plutia** adds, also looking eager.

"...Very well. I see no harm in doing so. State your interest, goddess of Lowee," **Momus** answers.

"About your origins... were you a fallen hero who ended up being consumed by darkness? Or maybe were you a demon who had been asleep for two years only to find out your father was dead and decided to claim his throne*?" **Blanc** starts to ask, her eyes looking at him with keen interest.

 **Momus** closes his eyes as if re-imagining his memories. "...No, that is not the case. I myself do not understand how I came to be. All I remember is that I believe I was nothing more than a large mass of energy...over time, it manifested into a physical form, and eventually, gained sentience. The end result is something you see before you."

 **Plutia** and **Blanc** listen to his story with rapt interest, **Plutia** in particular having her mouth open in a shape of a small "O".

"So you happened to be an accumulation of energy that took on a physical form... that's certainly fascinating..." **Blanc** had whipped out a notebook and pen and was writing down notes in it.

"Wow, I was totally MINDBLOWN!" **Copypaste** , who happened to have come back while **Momus** was telling his story, places down cups of tea in front of the three of them.

"So, what made you decide to take the path of an Overlord?" **Blanc** asks, taking a sip from her cup.

"Hm, well, that's... oh, this liquid has an interesting form of taste," **Momus** pauses as he stares at the cup he had just taken a drink out of with a look of interest.

"It's called green tea," **Blanc** explains.

 **Momus** nods his head at her words, taking another sip. "Hm, I see... I see..."

"So, you were saying?" **Blanc** urges him to continue.

 **Momus** places down his cup. "...Ah, yes. I held no extravagant motivation whatsoever. One day, I had come upon the realization that the reason why so many humans have attempted to slay me was because I had ended up demolishing most of their villages whenever I came to visit. I had always wondered why so many of them were always screaming at me for vengeance for their grandfathers, fathers, ancestors, and the like."

And he had said the last part so casually that he even took another sip of his tea like it was no big deal at all.

Slightly sweatdropping, **Blanc** still presses on. "Ancestors...? You must have lived for a particularly long time."

 **Momus** closes his eyes in deep thought. "Hm... I believe it took me around... a hundred years or so...?"

So in other words, it took him centuries to realize that he was destroying people's hometowns because he couldn't control his own strength. Once again, his obliviousness reaches supernatural levels.

"Whooaa... Momo's pretty old..." **Plutia** says in surprise.

"I expected as much, with your archaic manner of speech. So, anyway, once you realized that, you started doing those things for fun?" **Blanc** continues to ask.

"I do not deny part of my actions were to seek some manner of entertainment... however, for me the humans proved far too ineffective as a threat, always with their arrows... hurling their 'swords of light' at me... so that's why I encased myself in armor to block out such nuisances..." He starts to mumble in irritation as if recalling bad memories, before eventually recomposing himself; "...oh, yes, so after I had come upon the cognizance, I decided to make use of my power to seek out stronger foes. From creatures from the underworld, the occasional seraph, and before I knew it, Overlords from all around came challenging me," **Momus** explains calmly, taking more sips from his cup.

"So those three Overlords that was mentioned..." **Blanc** starts to say.

At the mention of those three, **Momus** slams his cup down on the floor. "Yes, those three! They were most persistent! One by one, confronting me everyday, refusing to accept their defeat! Then one day they just happened to form an alliance of some sorts and challenge me, only to resort to sealing me away in the end! Despicable! I won't accept such a pusillanimous manner of my defeat!"

With the over-the-top manner he was ranting, one would have thought that those three were like these annoying neighbors that would pester you endlessly everyday.

"Hm-hm, I see..." **Blanc** was busy scribbling down more words into her notebook.

She continued to barrage **Momus** with more questions, taking down his words diligently as if she was a journalist of some sorts. So **Momus** would rant, **Plutia** was just listening, and **Copypaste** continued to bring more tea (at **Momus** 's request).

While I am aware that our readers would want more back-story, there has to be a certain limit on these kind of things.

 **Blanc** glances at the scenery outside. "Hm... while I would like to know more... I seem to have used up a lot of time. I know you still have Leanbox to visit."

A yawn comes out from **Plutia** 's mouth. "Ahh... yeah... we only have one more nation to go..."

"I enjoyed our conversation though. I hope to learn more things from you next time. And it was nice spending time with you, Plutia," **Blanc** says with a satisfied smile.

 **Momus** gives her a nod. "Yes. We will be on our way now."

"COME BACK SOON! WE'LL WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS!" **Copypaste** says.

 **Momus** stands up to make his leave, having to drag **Plutia** along with him since her legs had given out from sitting too long.

"Byeee, Blanny~!" **Plutia** turns back to give **Blanc** a cheerful wave just as they exit. A stumbling sound could be heard through the divider's thin walls, followed up with **Plutia** 's "Hey Momo, can you carry me?" with **Momus** 's "I refuse!" afterwards.

After their voices fade away, **Blanc** continues to sit in her position and stares at the numerous words written in her notebook.

"Hm-hm... so many good material... I can make another novel about this... I need to talk to him more..." she says with a devious smile.

...Ah, I knew her unusual amount of interest was due to hidden intentions...

* * *

"Leanbox is... it's pretty far away so we're gonna have to ride a boat..." **Plutia** explains to **Momus** , as they were busy trekking on the road.

"A water vessel, I see..." **Momus** mutters.

 **Plutia** yawns. "I'm getting pretty tired, though... can't we just fly over? I can transform and carry you there..."

Preferably, we'd like to get to the place of destination without any possible mental trauma along the way.

"Hm... then again, transforming will make me even more tired... so maybe I'll pass..."

Yes, that is a good decision.

After much walking, the two manage to arrive at the dock with a boat leading to Leanbox. Behold the power of skipping!

There, another event triggers.

"Oh, look... there's someone sleeping on the sand..." **Plutia** says, pointing to a person lying down face-first in the ground near the water.

The two cautiously approach the red figure.

"Is this a corpse?" **Momus** bluntly asks out loud, staring at it.

 **Plutia** leans down and gives it a couple of pokes. She's not averse to poking possible dead figures, it seems. The figure lets out a groan in response.

"Oh... they're still alive...!" **Plutia** says.

The figure stirs, and starts to slowly stand up. It turns out to be a girl, with a ponytail tied to the side of her hair and wearing a blue scarf.

"Urgh... where am I?" the **Washed-Up Girl** groans.

"This is the harbor. Why are you sleeping in a place like this?" **Momus** responds.

"I wasn't sleeping... I was... I was... oh, that's right! I got involved in another shipwreck again..." The **Washed-Up Girl** says in dismay.

"Shipwreck...?" **Plutia** repeats.

The girl's eyes widen as she recognizes the person in front of her. "Ah, Plutia*!"

 **Plutia** only looks confused. "Huh...? How do you know my name...?"

"Don't you remember? It's me, Falcom! I used to come by your Basilicom when Neptune was still stuck in here..." the girl, now with the name of **Falcom** , says.

"Falcom...? Ohh, that's right...! Neppy had invited you over...! I never got to meet you much, though..." **Plutia** replies, now remembering.

 **Falcom** sweatdrops. "Well, that's because you were mostly asleep that time...ow!"

 **Plutia** looks at her in worry. "What's wrong...?!"

 **Falcom** has a hand clutched to her head. "Ow... my body still must be tired from the experience... this is practically my fourth shipwreck from Leanbox... um, I'm sorry, but I think I'll go find someplace else to rest..."

"That's okay...! Take care, now...!" **Plutia** says as **Falcom** leaves.

This entire time, **Momus** had kept quiet and only listened on their conversation.

"Neglecting to recall people you have previously met because of your slumber? You are quite exceptional in that regard," **Momus** states.

"Hehe..."

"I was not commending you!"

With that out of the way, the two ride on a boat headed towards Leanbox. The uninteresting boat ride will not be narrated either, obviously.

 **\- (ULTRADIMENSION) LEANBOX -**

Leanbox held a futuristic look to it in a similar manner to Planeptune, only that it was mostly filled with green colors other than purple, of course. It also had a lot more greenery around it, most likely because it was surrounded by forests and mountains.

"Hm... so this is Leanbox..." **Momus** says as they step out of the boat.

Like usual, he starts to take in his surroundings, and he and **Plutia** had only gone a couple of meters forward when a figure whose green colors also blended with the scenery comes running towards them.

"Um, hey, excuse me!" The figure, a girl, as expected, stops in front of **Momus** , looking in a rush.

"What?" **Momus** asks in a slightly rude tone.

Thankfully, the **Fox-like Girl** seems to be far too concerned in her rush to bother. "You two just came off the boat, right? Is it still there?"

"Yeah, it should still be there..." **Plutia** replies.

"Oh, thanks! I was hoping I didn't miss it! Goodbye!" The **Fox-like Girl** says as she sprints off towards the boat.

 **Plutia** stares after the girl with a contemplating look on her face. "You know... I think I might have seen that girl somewhere too..."

"Another associate whom you've neglected to remember again, I presume," **Momus** tells her in a dismissive manner.

That event over, the two proceed in heading towards the Basilicom.

 **\- (ULTRADIMENSION) LEANBOX BASILICOM -**

"Hello, I have been waiting for you two. Here, I've prepared some tea," **Vert** greets as the two enter.

"Tea, you say?" **Momus** noticeably perks up (one can see his antenna standing upright again) at the word, hurrying to sit himself on the table where the tea was placed.

When everyone else was finally seated, **Vert** uses a fancy-looking teapot to pour tea in everyone's fancy-looking teacups.

 **Momus** immediately takes a sip, and stares at it pensively. "It is different from green tea."

 **Vert** chuckles at his words. "But of course. It's a different type of tea. More specifically, it is darjeeling tea."

"It's good tea~ It's kind of making me a bit sleepy..." **Plutia** comments with a look of bliss on her face as she continues to sip from her cup.

"So there are different kinds... I was not aware. I have never tasted 'tea' before," **Momus** answers.

"Hmm... based on your circumstances, I had known that you lack knowledge with regards to certain matters, but I would have never expected it to this extent," **Vert** says with a slightly troubled look.

 **Momus** slightly narrows his eyes at her. "Are you insulting me, goddess?"

 **Vert** shakes her head to dissipate the tense mood he was starting to show. "Oh, no. I was merely musing to myself. Anyway... with that said..." she grins at **Momus**. "...do you know how to play games?"

 **Momus** and **Plutia** happen to tilt their heads together in the same direction. Ooh, the synchronization! "Games?" They blurt out in unison.

"If you are referring to those 'arcade games' that you speak of, I have already undertook it," **Momus** adds.

 **Vert** shakes her head once more. "No, not that kind. I am referring to 'massively multiplayer online game'. Or in other words, an MMO."

"...No, I have not done such a thing yet," **Momus** replies.

The grin on **Vert** 's face seems to grow even bigger. "Perfect. Then, do you mind playing a round with me? I can teach everything what you need to know about it."

"Momo learning games, huh... I guess that's not too bad..." **Plutia** says.

After finishing their tea, **Vert** leads them to another portion of her room with a TV screen and console - none other than hers, of course. She hands **Momus** another controller, making him stare at it in confusion. **Vert** starts to hand another one to **Plutia** , but she just shakes her head.

"It's okay... I'll just watch you two... I'm feeling a bit tired for games anyway..." **Plutia** tells her as she stifles a yawn.

"All right then, if you say so," **Vert** responds.

She then makes the two of them sit on the floor beside her. As the screen boots up to life, **Vert** turns to **Momus** with a smile.

"Right, so first, I'll teach you the basics. This should only last for a few moments..."

*HOURS LATER*

"What are you doing?! You're leaving your character completely vulnerable!" **Vert** exclaims as she mashes a couple more buttons on her controller, intensely focused on the game.

Beside her, **Momus** is holding his controller limply in his hands, eyes squinting at the screen. **Plutia** was leaning on his shoulder, completely asleep.

"How long must we keep this up?" He asks with a groan.

"Until the next boss battle!" **Vert** replies, still not taking her eyes off the screen.

 **Momus** 's eye twitches. "We have been doing nothing but sit here and stare at this lustrous wall for hours on end! My eyes cannot stand gazing upon it for any longer!"

 **Vert** pauses the game and glances outside the dark sky. It appears it was already nighttime. **Vert** had kept **Momus** playing until the night hour, it seems. "Oh my, you're right. It's already this late. I believe we should stop here for now."

At her words, **Momus** drops the controller to the floor. "Your words give me much solace. Slumbering One, we should get going."

He starts to shake **Plutia** awake, making her blink her eyes open sleepily. "Huh...? Is it morning already...?"

"If you plan on leaving, I suggest you do it now. The boats in Leanbox operate until 9 PM only," **Vert** says casually.

"...! There is not a moment to lose!" **Momus** exclaims, grabbing the still drowsy **Plutia** 's hand and starting to drag her along with him and his speed.

"Take care," **Vert** says with a smile, never once moving from her spot. She returns her gaze to the TV screen in front of her, and resumes her game.

Even until now, she still wants to continue playing?

...Oh, well.

Now that our self-proclaimed Overlord has finished visiting the nations... incoming accomplishment!

 **GAINED THE "NATION EXPLORER" ACHIEVEMENT!**

* * *

Managing to catch the last boat leaving Leanbox, the two make their way back to Planeptune. Well, **Plutia** , who was still tired, had ended up falling asleep on the way, leaving **Momus** to irritably carry her the rest of the way.

 **\- (ULTRADIMENSION) PLANEPTUNE -**

"...We've returned," **Momus** says with a huff with a sleeping **Plutia** on his back.

He starts to shake her awake again.

"We are here, so cease your indolence and at least have the will to walk on your own two feet back to your own abode!"

"...Mmh... oh, we're back..."

His yelling manages to wake her, and **Plutia** slowly gets off from his back.

 **Momus** straightens his posture with an irritated but satisfied huff. "Now then, let us get going."

"...Hey, Momo..." he hears **Plutia** 's voice call out from behind him.

He stops walking and faces her. "What is it?"

The normally nonchalant expression on **Plutia** 's face was not present, instead she looked to be in deep in thought about something. "Now that you've seen all of the nations... do you still like Planeptune...?"

"What makes you ask such a thing? I favor no particular land," **Momus** replies in a straightforward manner.

"So... you're not going to transfer to another nation...?" **Plutia** asks hopefully.

 **Momus** continues to stare at her with slight annoyance as if wondering why she was even bothering to ask such a thing. "Why would I migrate into another location? I am already bound to you here, am I not? The tiny faerie and I had established a contract that I will be aiding you. As much as a large inconvenience it is, you are the one providing me with shelter."

 **Plutia** 's face brightens at his words. "Haha... yeah, you're right... you're with me, so there's no way you'd leave... Okay...! I feel a lot better now~! Let's go back home~!"

 **Momus** only sighs at her antics. "Yes, I would very much like to partake in supper at this moment."

 **Plutia** reaches out to grab his hand as they start to walk back. **Momus** raises a brow at this, but decides to not comment upon it.

 **PLUTIA'S AFFECTION HAS INCREASED TO LEVEL {4}**

...Oh, what a surprisingly heartwarming moment. I would say something snarky, but for once I will leave the good mood as it is.

Anyway, while our readers are rejoicing that this story is definitely still alive, the author is rejoicing that they have made the longest chapter in their entire history of writing. Just don't expect it to happen all the time, nor have rapid updates, because one cannot put too much expectations on a lazy bum.

Right, now let's get on with plot-related narrations!

Our so-called protagonist has now met not only the other CPUs, but other certain characters that those who played _Victory_ and spent money on it should be familiar with.

He has also managed to get a tour of the other nations as well - well, technically, only one actually bothered to give him a tour, but at the very least our apparent hero has managed to see how the other nations look like, so it still counts.

Having met these new characters, one can only wonder how will he continue to interact with them, especially increasing the [Affection Rank], right? Oh come on, you were thinking of it. Don't deny it.

Well, knowing our self-proclaimed Overlord's abrasive personality, one can only wait and see how he'll manage to get along with the rest. So far, no one has attempted to kill each other, so that should mean all is well.

We shall be seeing each other in the next chapter!

(Whenever it comes)

* * *

 **CHAPTER SIX - CLEAR!**

 **》** **CHAPTER SEVEN** **《**

 _ **LOADING...**_

* * *

 **STATS**

 **MOMUS (LEVEL 27)**

 **WEAPON** : Diabolus (cannot be unequipped)

 **OUTFIT** : Apparently Evil

 **ACCESSORY** : Scarf of Apparent Evil

 **AFFECTION RANKS:** Plutia {4}, Neptune {3}, Nepgear {3}, Compa {3}, Noire {2}, Blanc {2}, Vert {2}, MAGES. {2}, Histoire {2}, Peashy {2}, Rei Ryghts {2}, IF {1}

 **SP SKILLS:**

\- Dark Edge (Dr)

\- Consuming Shadow (Dr)

\- Shadow Slash (Dr)

 **EXE DRIVE:**

\- Diabolic Devastator (Dr)

\- Dual Darkness (Formation Skill w/Plutia) (Dr) (MenDown)

\- Sword Onslaught (Formation Skill w/Neptune) (Dr) (StrDown)

 **COMMAND SKILLS:**

RUSH: Slash, Sword Slice, Myriad Slash

POWER: Edge Breaker, Wide Arc, Cleave

GUARD BREAK: Down Strike, Upper Slice, Side Strike

EX Finisher: X-Slash, Soul Pierce, Grave Pierce

* * *

 **EXTRA NOTES**

*Jet Set Range and Rud Arms Sewer are dungeons that serve as the travel route between Lastation & Planeptune, and Lastation & Lowee respectively.

*Plutia's SP Skill: _[Boomerang!]_.

*Plutia/Iris Heart's SP Skills _[Boomerang!/Drive Stab]_ are skills actually unlocked at later levels. However, for the sake of convenience, in this story, though everyone's levels are reset, they still have their complete skill sets. Momus is the only exception because he is a new character; and plot-wise, he has been asleep for who knows how long.

*MAGES.' EX Finishers: The first one mentioned is _[Flash Judge]_ , the second being _[Dark Past Trauma]_.

*In the DLC scenarios, Plutia never makes an appearance, but is given a few brief mentions.

*The "assistant" comment is a reference to _Steins;Gate_. Asami Imai, Noire's seiyuu, had also voiced Makise Kurisu, a character in _Steins;Gate_ whom the main character occasionally refers to as his assistant, that MAGES. pokes fun at due to being a walking _Steins;Gate_ reference herself. Incidentally, Plutia's seiyuu, Kana Hanazawa, also voices Shiina Mayuri, another _Steins;Gate_ character.

*The character is PaRappa, the main character of the rhythm game _PaRappa the Rapper_ made for PlayStation.

* _Tales of Symphonia_ reference.

* _Disgaea: Hour of Darkness_ reference.

*Aside from MAGES. and Broccoli, Falcom is the other DLC character who doesn't refer to the CPUs in a formal title.


	7. Chapter 7 - And Back To Plot Again

**EnderSoul1401:** Haha, well I do admit it has been a while since I last updated that chapter... and same goes for this one, lol. Hurrah for Philippine bonds, aha.

 **G.N. Over-Kite:** Yeah, have to say that pretty much sums up all of Momus's interests in a nutshell. xD I suppose that's why I am not too sure about the whole harem thing, since I'm not sure if that would fit Momus...

 **Cobaltroid:** Ah, really? I wasn't so sure if I pulled the humor off, but I'm glad I did somehow. I was planning to separate each nation visit in a chapter, but felt like that would drag things a bit or end up being too short. So I just went ahead and placed everything in a single chapter, ahah. Hmm, what could be Plutia's concerns indeed, ohoho. And well, you know things are legit when Blanc tells you you're flatter than her-*coughcough*

 **the lone soul:** Yep, Uzume is a very interesting character, she immediately went up to my favorites as soon as I saw how adorable she was.

 **Raygha Raikouga:** I'm glad you're interested! And for Momus's transformation... we'll see. xD

 **lightkirinhuruname:** Haha, glad to see you were waiting for it!

 **pardus9:** Oh, thank you so much for enjoying it! I honestly wasn't sure if I was justifying the "Humor" category, so it's assuring to see it's working... somehow? xD And yes, expect much obliviousness from Momus. It will be abused when he's around. I do admit that I'm leaning towards a single pairing... but hmm, if I ever do, I wonder who will it be... haha, decisions.

 **ARSLOTHES:** Thank you for your support! And as for him regaining his powers again... one must wait and see! xD

 _DISCLAIMER: The author? Owning anything? Unfortunately, no._

* * *

 **HYPERDIMENSION NEPTUNIA: OVERLOAD**

CHAPTER SEVEN

》START

And so, days have passed since our certain duo had visited the other nations on a supposed tour for our so-called Overlord's sake.

Now, I know that most of the readers will cry foul and say that it has been in fact weeks - nay, months since that event in the last chapter, but unfortunately this world of fiction simply operates in a different timeline. And so, when the author says it's been only days, it shall remain that way, and the characters will acknowledge it as such.

...Even if the characters themselves do possess some awareness to real-time events. This is Neptunia, after all, where the fourth-wall seems to be practically absent ever since a certain girl by the name of Neptune came into existence.

That aside, we now go back to the focus of the narration's original topic. Our Overlord protagonist spent his days working in the Basilicom, looking after a certain somnolent goddess, end up doing said lazy goddess's work when she would end up falling asleep; which were composed of doing quests in the Guild or the never-ending pile of paperwork. The latter job nearly drove our Overlord protagonist insane to the point that he had actually started deeming the routinely work of sorting out documents to be "a fearsome foe" next to the "dreaded gelatinous creatures".

But, no matter how much those deeds gave our so-called protagonist frustration, it had to be done. For the sake of progress... and stability of the nation, as **Histoire** had repeatedly begged.

However, thankfully for our self-proclaimed Overlord, not all of his time was consumed with doing work he did not want to do. He did spend some rather peaceful days lingering about in the Basilicom, getting fed by **Compa** , getting mauled by **Peashy** in supposed playtime, being glared at by **IF** ; such things such as that. Those days have been deemed as irrelevant to be even shown in detail, as people come here for exciting Neptunia shenanigans and not the life of a character who doesn't even exist in canon.

This grueling intro aside, we now have our so-called protagonist awaken to yet another day in the Planeptune Basilicom.

He rudely slams the door to his pink-colored room open, with newly repaired scarf flowing behind, a permanent scowl on his face as always, and proceeds to walk into the hallway. His expression turns into slight bewilderment when he sees a figure in front of him.

"A-aah! It's the Overlord!" the shadowed figure who was wearing what it appeared to be a robe exclaims, frantically putting up the stack of papers they were holding in front of their face like a shield.

 **Momus** raises a brow at the cowering figure, before his eyes narrow with suspicion. "Just who are you?"

 **Histoire** , who happened to be floating beside the NPC, is the one who responds. "Ah, Momus, there's no need to be on guard. This is one of the Planeptune Basilicom staff. He had dropped by here to talk to me with nation-related matters. (^ｰ^)"

The **Cowardly Planeptune Basilicom Staff** gives a nod in affirmation to **Histoire** 's words. "U-um, yes, b-but my work is already done here! I-if you'll excuse me!"

With a small bow of his head, he nervously walks past the two and leaves.

"Please don't mind him. Word has already spread in the Basilicom that Plutia is keeping an Overlord here, so some of the staff are still quite wary of your presence...(╯_╰)" **Histoire** tells **Momus** in an apologetic manner.

Though **Momus** , being his usual self, doesn't seem at all bothered by it and merely crosses his arms. "Hmph, such fear is only logical when standing before an Overlord such as I. However, what does draw my perplexity is the 'staff', you have just mentioned. I was not aware that the Slumbering One's vassals were actively doing their services in this place."

"Oh, the Basilicom staff usually conduct their work in other areas of the Basilicom that you don't usually visit to," **Histoire** explains.

They just happen to do their work off-screen which is why the Basilicom only seems to house a number of people. How else will the nation survive without people helping their goddess manage it?

"...If all of the work was solely given to Plutia alone, I don't think this nation would last even a day, (´ー｀)" **Histoire** remarks with a sigh. "Either way, the Basilicom staff are only allowed to request an audience with Plutia when it is involving important matters, which is also the reason why you do not meet with them often."

Because background characters aren't given much significance.

"Please don't refer to them in such a manner. They are the ones who are helping me keep this nation alive (￣□￣)," **Histoire** says.

"...Wait... so you mean to say that the amount of this 'paperwork' that I do... is merely an undersized amount of the actual number?!" **Momus** exclaims, eyes wide.

"Well... I am aware that you are not a professional for this kind of work, so I only give you a minimum amount of paperwork so you won't be overwhelmed...(´∀｀)" **Histoire** replies.

"How can such a gargantuan amount of records come to be in the first place?!" **Momus** shouts in disbelief.

 **Histoire** merely sighs at this. "Paperwork is the kind of work Plutia hates the most, so she usually avoids doing it, leading it to pile up even further...(-'_'-)"

A vein pops out from **Momus** 's head as he raises a trembling fist. "That neglectful goddess..."

"That's the reality of the situation, Momus. Now you understand why I am so willing to keep you here（ ；´Д｀）," **Histoire** tells him.

 **HISTOIRE'S AFFECTION HAS INCREASED TO LEVEL {3}**

Ah, nothing like bonding over mutual stress.

* * *

Once **Momus** stepped into the lounge room, he was greeted with the familiar sight of three certain CPUs (plus **Peashy** ) sitting on the floor, talking amongst themselves. Even though there was a couch actually present in the room, the carpeted floor was most likely far too fluffy for them to have resisted sitting upon. It was fitting for the perpetually-sleepy CPU who would sleep pretty much anywhere, even on floors.

The two girls look up at **Momus** 's direction when they see him enter.

"Oh, good morning," **Vert** greets politely, currently having **Peashy** wrapped in her arms.

"Good morning," is all **Blanc** says.

"Hello, Histoire... and you," The difference in tone she used was evident with **Noire**.

While **Momus** twitches at the manner she addressed him with, **Histoire** floats by him with a look of mild surprise. "Ah, I see you three have paid us a visit again. (*≗*)"

To explain, during the omitted days that had passed by, the three CPUs have taken a liking to visiting the Basilicom frequently. **Blanc** and **Noire** all the more so, with reasons most likely regarding about their personal agendas.

"I was hoping to talk with Momus and Plutia again," **Blanc** tells him. From behind her, she discreetly pulls out a notebook and pen.

 **Noire** simply glares at **Momus**. "And obviously, I won't allow a guy like him to freely hang around Plutia." She then shifts her gaze at **Blanc**. "Or let you one-up me too."

"..." **Blanc** remains silent but is calmly sitting with her eyes closed and looking slightly smug.

Still with the friendship rivalry by the looks of it.

"I wanted to play with little Peashy today," **Vert** says, cuddling up to said little girl.

"Ow, Bert, you're hugging me too tight..." **Peashy** complains with a look of discomfort.

"Oh, but this is one of the rare days where you're available at the Basilicom! I can't simply waste this opportunity for some much needed sister bonding!" **Vert** tells her happily.

 **Momus** stares at them with half-lidded eyes. "Do you three not have a nation to be attending to?"

"It's fine. That's what our Basilicom staff is for," **Vert** replies dismissively, far too busy trying to cuddle with **Peashy**.

"It is exactly for this kind of reason why this 'paperwork' needlessly accumulates!" **Momus** yells.

The other three were to be expected, but it seems inappropriate for a workaholic like **Noire** of all people.

"What... I'm actually being singled out?! Ugh, I'll have you know I've been really busy this entire week! There's been rising cases of viral monsters appearing lately and getting too close to my nation, so just this once I wanted to take a break from all of the work that's been piling up!" **Noire** explains in her defense.

 **Histoire** 's eyes widen at her words, and one can actually see an exclamation mark appear from her head. "Viral monsters, you say..."

At that moment, another shadowed-figure comes into the room. It was another NPC Basilicom staff again, though he seemed to be a different person than the one a while ago judging by the way he wasn't being a nervous wreck.

"I apologize for the intrusion, CPUs, but I wish to report a message to Lady Black Heart," the **Professional Planeptune Basilicom Staff** says.

 **Noire** turns to look at him curiously. "A message? For me?"

The **Professional Planeptune Basilicom Staff** nods. "One of your soldiers from Lastation wanted me to pass this information to you since they were aware of your visit here in Planeptune. He wanted to inform you that one of your factories has been overrun with viral monsters."

This set of news makes **Noire** stand up in alarm. "What?! Overrun by monsters?!"

"The soldiers assigned to that area were unfortunately overwhelmed by the number of monsters, so they wish to ask for your assistance," the **Professional Planeptune Basilicom Staff** adds.

"Another monster incident, huh..." **Noire** mutters with apprehension. Then she stands up straighter in a more confident pose, with a hand on her hip. "Alright then, I'll be heading over there to neutralize the threat immediately!"

"Understood, Lady Black Heart. I will call back your soldiers and notify them of your arrival," the **Professional Planeptune Basilicom Staff** answers, giving a brief nod and leaving the room.

 **Noire** lets out a huff. "Well, I'll be heading off."

"Take care, Noire," **Vert** says in a light-hearted tone, still not taking her eyes off **Peashy**.

"You get going then," **Blanc** adds in an equally nonchalant manner, staring at the notebook on her lap.

Those two don't seem to be even concerned when one of their companions seems to be encountering a problem of their own. Such a beautiful display of friendship.

"Well, this is Noire, after all," **Vert** says.

"Noire: the independent CPU and prefers to do things all by herself. She doesn't like it when others interfere with her business, especially if it's not Plutia," **Blanc** adds.

"H-Hmph, yeah! I can handle everything just fine! It's my nation, so as its CPU, I have sole responsibility over it! I don't need to ask help from you two! I-it's not like I'm a bit hurt that you two don't even try to ask if you want to help me out or anything...!" **Noire** says, trying (and failing) to look unbothered by it.

Her behavior is so obvious. It's kind of a sad sight, really.

"Oh, shut up, you stupid narrator! I'm leaving now!"

 **Noire** turns her back and prepares to exit the room when **Histoire** calls out, "Wait, Noire."

 **Noire** halts in her step and turns around to face **Histoire** with a confused look. "What is it, Histoire?"

"Noire, if you don't mind, I would like to let Momus accompany you with your predicament," **Histoire** tells her.

Not one, but two heads whip over to the tiny fairy with looks of disbelief.

""WHAT!?""

"Why does he have to come along?!"

"Just why am I required to go with this disrespectful goddess?!"

"Hey, who're you calling disrespectful you rude–"

"A-ah, please you two, settle down. (*´д｀*) I merely want to look into this matter as well. It has been recently reported to me that there have been an increase in viral monsters in Planeptune, so I want to see if this incident is related somehow," **Histoire** explains in hopes of stopping the two in another argument.

"Huh, so Planeptune's been experiencing this too?" **Noire** asks in surprise.

"What bothers me is why exactly I have be the one to undertake this task," **Momus** cuts in, looking irritated by the thought of it.

"I would normally have Plutia do this on Planeptune's behalf, but unfortunately she is still asleep (╯_╰)... of course, you could head into her room and try to wake her up–"

"I will be departing post-haste."

He certainly changed his mind quickly.

 **NOIRE HAS BEEN ADDED.**

* * *

And so the two arrived to their place of destination. This is where the "quick-jump" option comes in, as the duo didn't want to spend time in each other's presence more than they wanted to and ended up skipping to their location immediately.

 **\- ANONYDEATH'S LAB -**

When they stepped inside the large black building, the entire area was eerily quiet and nearly empty save for one lone figure standing in the distance.

As they approached, **Noire** 's eyes widen upon recognizing the figure. "IF?"

At the sound of **Noire** 's voice, **IF** turns around in surprise to face her. "Ah, Lady Noire... and the Overlord is here too."

 **Momus** scowls at being addressed so dismissively once again. "Yet another ill-mannered female..."

 **Noire** just ignores the muttering Overlord beside her and continues to talk to **IF**. "IF, what are you doing here? It's rare for me to see you in Lastation territory."

"I obtained some information that a viral monster infestation was happening here, so I came here to investigate. There's been a rise of viral monsters appearing lately, and the Guild's been sending out agents to find out the source of it all," **IF** explains.

"I see... well, while I wasn't expecting the extra company, I don't mind letting you come along for your investigation," **Noire** tells her with a smile.

"Thank you, Lady Noire," **IF** replies with a grateful smile of her own.

 **IF HAS BEEN ADDED.**

"Ergh, to think that I would have encountered two churlish females today..." **Momus** mutters in dissatisfaction.

 **IF** hears his comment and faces him with an irritated glance of her own. "Hey, why are you here anyway?"

"The miniature fay requested me to escort the Lastation deity on behalf of the Slumbering One," **Momus** answers, looking just as displeased as **IF** is.

"Oh, Lady Plutia was asleep again, I bet," **IF** comments in a knowing manner.

"Yeah, like that's anything new. I would've really preferred if it was Plutia who came along with me, but since Histoire asked me to, I've really got no choice but to put up with him for now," **Noire** says with a huff.

"You and me both, Lady Noire," **IF** agrees.

"On the contrary! It is I who will be subjected to the torturous burden of having to tolerate you two's presence!" is what **Momus** bursts in with in his loud self, making said females shoot him looks of irritation.

What is this conversation coming to? A "whose presence is the most aggravating" competition?

"Ugh, I don't have time to deal with this guy right now! While we're standing here and bickering like kids, my factory's getting wrecked by monsters!" **Noire** shouts in annoyance.

"Speaking about that, Lady Noire, I was wondering why there doesn't seem to be any single person remaining in this factory. The information I had gotten was that it was the guards stationed at this area who reported the monster infestation," **IF** says.

"Oh, that. There's no need to worry. I always tell my soldiers to fall back if they can't handle the current threat so I can take care of things myself," **Noire** explains in a seemingly prideful tone.

So basically, you allow your forces to willingly desert you so you can deal with it by yourself? Such a strategy is only befitting of a loner such as you! Truly awe-inspiring.

"...Gah, shut up! Aaargh, seriously, let's just get going already!" **Noire** yells, starting to stomp ahead.

Well, putting the ruthless teasing of the tsundere aside, our trio proceeded to head further into the factory.

"...! There's one up ahead!" **IF** alerts the other two of a dark-colored device... thing hovering about up ahead.

"Alright! Let's go!" **Noire** brings out a disk from her pocket, starting to sprint forward just as the disk transformed into a rapier, and slashes at the enemy.

 _ **SYMBOL ATTACK!**_

 **Noire** , with rapier in hand, delivers a couple of skillful slashes at the floating device - a type of "monster" that we all know as the [Bit].

After her, **IF** rushes in with her qatars out, slashing and kicking at the other larger mechanical monster that was accompanying the Bits, called [EDGE].

Next, **Momus** attacks a nearby Bit with large slashes coming from his sword. Once he had finished it off and disappears into data, a look of intrigue settles upon his face.

"What an interesting creature it was. When Diabolus had come upon it, its body structure felt very solid. It does not seem to be made out of flesh and bones," he remarks thoughtfully.

Oh, right, being the primitive Overlord that you are, you are completely unaware of things pertaining to modern technology. The enemy that you had just fought was not actually a creature, but a machine. Fittingly, it is one of the enemy types that is listed under the [Machine] category in the Nepedia.

"A machine? You mean to say it has no free will?"

Yes, it only acts on whatever it is programmed to do. And being one of the many monsters in the world of Neptunia, it acts like what a monster is supposed to, and that's by being a general nuisance and something to reap experience points out of.

"Hmm, no wonder. It is nothing more than a mindless puppet. Now I see why I was not able to devour its health. It is not edible."

You cannot eat machines, but it would be a greatly amusing sight to see you attempt it.

"Hey, as if you haven't noticed during your exposition dump, we're still in the middle of battle here!" **Noire** yells in irritation.

Oh, why yes we are. It should be the enemy's turn about now.

"Wh–"

The EDGE points the sharp tips hovering at its back and releases a strong zap in **Noire** 's direction.

"Aaagh!"

"Lady Noire!" **IF** rushes to **Noire** 's rescue by proceeding to relentlessly pound the EDGE with her [Command Skills].

 _ **\+ VICTORY! +**_

 _ **ITEM DROP: ILLEGAL RAM**_

"Lady Noire, are you okay?" **IF** asks in concern while supporting **Noire** 's body, who was currently slouched over.

Of course she's not okay, she looks to be in pain. So what is the point of asking that question when you can clearly see her condition?

"You're not helping the situation here!" **IF** yells in exasperation.

"Urgh, I'm fine... but I can't seem to move my body..." **Noire** grunts out.

"Hm, your body has been rendered paralyzed, it seems," **Momus** says casually, as if merely talking about the weather and not have a possibly injured comrade.

And yes, what you see before you is a [status ailment]. [Paralysis] is among the status conditions a foe can inflict upon a character, along with [Poison], [Skillseal], and [Virus]. Though, there's no need for you to bother with the last one, as that only applies to the CPUs and their access to [Hard Drive Divinity] as you've been reduced to being a mere human.

 **Momus** 's eye twitches to give a slight indication that he might have been offended on that last statement, but ultimately opts for a "Is that so..." in response.

"Wait, let me check our inventory... What?! We don't have a single usable item in here?!" **IF** exclaims upon checking the convenient [Item] window.

 **Noire** is similarly gaping in disbelief at the news. "What?! Are you serious?! Who goes around an RPG setting without carrying any healing items?!"

A certain ignorant Overlord, that's who.

"Agh! Hey, you, have you not visited the [item shop] yet?!" **Noire** tells **Momus**.

All **Momus** does is stand there and blink in confusion at the new term. "'Shop'? You refer to a store? The establishment that humans go to?"

Well, there's your answer.

"Are you freaking kidding me?! You don't even know what an item shop is?! Ugh...!" **Noire** continues to react incredulously, looking even more tired by the minute.

"Huh, I guess no one in the Basilicom bothered to show him around Planeptune..." **IF** mutters.

Which is especially ironic, since he already went on a supposed tour of all the nations in the previous chapter, only that the very nation he's staying in is the one he hasn't received a tour of yet.

"Ugh, knowing Plutia, she was too lazy to even do anything about it..." **Noire** sighs with exasperation. "Aaagh, I guess we have no choice but to go back to Lastation and buy items there!"

"But Lady Noire, you can't move..." **IF** says with worry.

She can just be carried there. We have someone here who is used to carrying people around, so that should solve things.

 **Momus** blinks in confusion for a few seconds before he processes what had just been said. "What?! I have to carry this female too?!"

Oh, you managed to catch on to that one quickly.

"Who is it other than I who keeps being subjected to such troublesome actions?! Regardless, I refuse to do it! I find it extremely tiresome that I keep being reduced to a deity's carrier! This one looks to be heavier than the Slumbering One, so I find it an immense hassle!" **Momus** complains in his usual loud manner, pointing an exaggerated finger towards **Noire**.

Oh, not only does he refuse to help a girl in need, he just deemed a girl to be overweight right in her face! That takes extreme boldness and another whole level of shamelessness.

A vein pops out of **Noire** 's head and she grits her teeth with closed eyes. "If I could move right now, I would seriously punch you in the face."

"Ugh, fine, if the Overlord doesn't want to help I'll do it," **IF** says with a frustrated sigh.

Ah, might as well. Our so-called powerful Overlord's fragile human body is most likely too tired to carry someone at the moment.

"Who do you dare refer to as frangible, All-Knowing One?! I am more than capable of sustaining that female's weight!" He yells with loud vigor, going over and quickly snatching **Noire** from **IF** 's hold and throwing her in his back.

"WHY THE HECK ARE YOU STILL CALLING ME FAT YOU ARROGANT–" **Noire** 's yelling could be heard in the distance as **Momus** was sprinting off towards the exit.

"To be so easily provoked... he's so much like a kid..." **IF** mutters as she stares at **Momus** 's running silhouette and **Noire** 's screaming form in the distance with an unimpressed look.

* * *

 **\- BACK AT LASTATION -**

Eventually, the trio arrived back at Lastation, the journey thankfully less agonizing (and humiliating) with the convenient scene jump.

Once they entered, **IF** had immediately bought the [Paralaxin] needed to cure **Noire** of her paralyzed status ailment.

"Finally... I can move again..." **Noire** says in relief after chugging down the bottle of Paralaxin.

"So this is a shop..." **Momus** remarks with a look of slight awe, gazing upon the shelves filled with various items, weapons and even clothes.

He was acting similarly to a child who had just entered a candy store for the first time. The looks on **Noire** and **IF** were certainly saying so.

"Anyway, while we're here, we better stock up on some items. It's suicidal for someone to be walking around with no healing items in a dungeon! It's basic knowledge! Ugh, seriously," **Noire** mutters in complaint.

And so **Noire** and **IF** proceeded to buy the necessary items that every player should know and have.

Over at the counter, when they were preparing to pay for the items, **Noire** takes out a sleek black card (probably customized) with a digital symbol of a yellow coin with a "C" flickering on its screen.

"What is that?" **Momus** asks in curiosity upon seeing it.

"Don't you know? This is where we store [credits]. And before you ask, credits are the currency of this world. There, now you know," **Noire** explains dismissively, handing over the card to the **NPC cashier**.

The **NPC cashier** swipes the card over at the cash registrar, making a tiny *BEEP* noise, as numbers of what the items amounted to flashed on the cash registrar's screen.

"Thank you very much for your purchase, Lady Black Heart," the **NPC cashier** says with a smile, handing over the card back to her.

 **Momus** blinks at the process. "Hm? Did you not give the due payment?"

 **Noire** faces him with a tired look in her eyes as it looks like she has to explain things to him again. "Of course I did. I paid the items with this card. This is where my money is stored." She gives said card a little wave in her hand for emphasis.

Ah, so I see. Credits are stored in the card. "Credit Card"! Oh, the wordplay is so unoriginal.

"So you mean to say that this small object has the ability to contain all of your wealth? Do you not carry it in bags filled with coins like the humans do?" **Momus** asks, leaning closer to inspect the item held in **Noire** 's hand.

 **Noire** pulls away the card irritably, uncomfortable at the boy's close proximity. "We can carry credits on-hand, but we mostly use these cards for our convenience. I mean, how else will people be able to carry a large amount of credits on them?"

 **Momus** merely places a hand to his chin in thought. "Hm... so it is capable of storing a large quantity of items in a similar manner like your summoning orbs do?"

 **Noire** raises a brow in confusion. "Summoning orb?"

He's most likely referring to your disks.

 **Noire** 's expression changes into that of understanding. "Oh, that. Yeah, they do function in the same way. The disks we use are for storing our weapons so we can carry them without any inconvenience."

"But I have never seen the human use such a thing for her weapons," **Momus** comments, glancing at **IF** , who was standing by over to the side looking at some shelves.

Hearing his comment, **IF** turns to face him with a tired expression, as if she finds it a hassle to have to explain things to him as well. "I carry my weapons on-hand. I just hide them in my sleeves."

*Shing!*

As she said this, she pulls out her glinting qatar from her sleeve to prove her point.

"Hm... I see..." **Momus** says in satisfaction.

"Happy now?" **IF** asks in a slightly weary tone, retracting back her blade.

"But then... where do the items we purchase are stored to?"

 **Noire** and **IF** seem to go silent at **Momus** 's words.

"Huh..."

"Come to think of it..."

The answer is simple. With convenient hammerspace!

Which begs the question on why cards are needed to store money in the first place, but such matters will be rendered trivial and not worth trying to make sense out of.

* * *

 **\- ANONYDEATH'S LAB -**

With the necessary items finally bought, the three return back to the factory that they had temporarily abandoned even though there's supposed to be a monster threat in it. Thankfully, by the looks of things, none of the monsters had set foot outside of the factory at all. Must be the usual plot convenience at work. Nothing drastic happens unless it's part of the main storyline, anyways.

When they came back in, they did what it was they were supposed to have done a lot earlier, and that was eliminating the viral monsters that have swarmed the factory.

They had ended up heading further into the factory's depths, cleaning up more viral monsters along the way.

"Hyah!"

With a slash from **Noire** 's blade, the Bit bursts into data.

 _ **\+ VICTORY! +**_

 **Noire** surveys the surroundings, confirming that they've managed to finish off the monsters in this area. A frown comes to her face. "This viral outbreak seems to be serious... it's even affected the monsters that don't usually turn viral."

"That's right... living monsters such as the [Beast] or [Plant] category are normally the ones who turn viral, but [Data] monsters rarely, or never even do so..." **IF** says in agreement, an equally serious look on her face.

"...Hey, IF, you said there's supposed to be a source for all of this, right?" **Noire** asks.

"A similar incident happened in Planeptune, where all of the monsters in the dungeon had been going viral because they were being affected with a strong wavelength in the entire location. Based on my assumptions, this could be another occurrence..." **IF** explains, briefly shooting a suspicious glance at **Momus**. **Momus** had missed it since he was busy looking at another area of the factory, while **Noire** wasn't able to notice it due to being caught up in her own thoughts.

"...Let's head further in. We might be able to find the source somewhere deeper inside," **Noire** says, snapping out of her musings and starting to walk forward.

 **IF** and **Momus** follow **Noire** 's lead, as **Momus** continues to look around the factory as they walk.

"...It has come to my attention that this building of yours looks far too decrepit, even with this infestation going about," **Momus** remarks.

He does have a point, since the entire dungeon looks like an abandoned warehouse. But then again, that's what it's been designed to be.

"Ugh, that's because this building got taken over by a pervert once. Once I finally chased that guy out of here, he made so many modifications to the place that even until now we're still in the middle of reverting it back to the way it was. Though with all these damages the monsters made, looks like I'll have to pour even more credits for the repairs... ugh, what a pain..." **Noire** mutters in complaint.

Well, in the first place, the dungeon's name was a dead give-away. Quite a surprise to see that it's still intact.

"Ugh, I know! Because of his damn revisions even the dungeon's still named after him! It's so annoying!" **Noire** replies in irritation. Her eyes narrow even further as they approach another door up ahead. "In fact, the only place left to check should be..."

 **Noire** loudly opens the door to the room, sporting an equally irritated face not unlike our Overlord this morning as her eyes roam around the remains of a certain fanboy robot's laboratory equipment.

"Hmph, I knew it... this place hasn't been cleared yet," **Noire** says with narrowed eyes, as she spots the guard Bits that automatically came to life as soon as it detected their presence.

"Alright, once we finish these things off, we're done here." **Noire** quickly materializes her rapier in her hand, as the other two whip out their own weapons in the same manner.

Just as they took a step forward, the area started to glitch.

"Huh...?" **Noire** widens her eyes at what was happening.

The Bits that were hovering up ahead were also glitching in the same manner as the room was, as their bodies were eventually overtaken by a flash of dark-colored data and turned viral.

"That's..." **IF** 's attention is then drawn to the small dark orb floating behind the now-viral Bits. She hadn't noticed it was there before, with the Bits hovering around it, it must have been covered out of sight.

"This presence..." **Momus** also comes to notice the ball of darkness and his eyes narrow in response.

And well... you know what happened next.

The rapid sputtering of unstable data around the room, the glitching, the whole static-y phenomenon, and the ball of darkness that was starting to grow and expand into a large size.

The ball of darkness took shape, stretching and extending up tall, so much that its head ended up reaching the ceiling. What emerged was a large brown humanoid figure that was seemingly made out of sturdy stone, with three gaps placed on its rocky head resembling two eyes and a mouth.

"W-W-WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!?" **Noire** reacts accordingly, gaping at the massive figure before them.

 **IF** could be seen staring at it with a cautious but knowing glare on her face, while **Momus** was... actually looking impressed with it.

"Hoh, so it is a golem! It has been such a long time since I have fought one! A golem of a colossal size such as this is more appropriate than those creatures you deem as one in this world!"

"Stop looking so happy! This isn't the time for that!" **Noire** yells at him. She then gestures in an exaggerated manner towards the golem up ahead. "...THAT! What is that huge thing?!"

"Did you not hear my earlier remark? It is what I have just said. It is a golem. Fix your hearing organ, goddess!" **Momus** replies in an unimpressed tone.

"That's not the point! What I want to know is -WHY IS THAT THING HERE- and -WHERE THE HECK DID IT COME FROM-?!"

"Then you should have made your intentions clear–"

"Ugh, just hurry up and answer the question you know what it is don't you–"

"Lady Noire, the explanations can wait later! It's coming!" **IF** interrupts with an urgent voice, as the golem acts first and brings down one of its giant fists at their directions.

At **IF** 's warning, the other two snap out of their arguing and manage to heed her voice just in time and dodge at the very moment the golem's fist crashed down on the spot they happened to be standing on, the entire ground shaking due to its sheer strength.

Knowing that this was no time to be fooling around, **Noire** grits her teeth. "Can't be helped. Access!"

Engulfed in a burst of light and data codes, **Noire** 's previously black hair is turned into white, wearing a rather revealing suit colored in shades of grey and black, with a pair of red "wings" hovering behind her. In place of her rapier, she was holding a large black sword.

"I don't know why something like that appeared here, but the fact doesn't change that it's a monster! Nuisances like that are meant to get rid of!" **Noire** , or should we say **Black Heart** says in an arrogant manner, her voice dropping to a serious low tone.

"Such a conceited goddess," **Momus** comments.

That is incredibly hypocritical coming from the likes of you.

 **IF** does not say anything, but the stare she was giving him was showing that she was thinking the exact same thing.

 **Black Heart** flies forward, some of the viral Bits intercepting her path by shooting large tiny beams at her direction. She dodges their attacks effortlessly, still continuing to surge on forward.

"You're in the way!" She slashes at the Bits in her path dismissively, leaving a trail of data in her wake. All this time, she never took her eyes off the golem ahead. Truly, those Bits were considered nothing more than mere bugs in her sight.

As she approaches the golem, a grin makes its way into her face. Looked to be far too vicious for a goddess. Ah, now I understand why she and **Plutia** became friends.

 **Black Heart** draws her large blade backwards, then gives one - or was it two? slashes. The golem slowly lifts up a giant fist and makes a move to punch the goddess in the air, but **Black Heart** merely kicks its fist as both a means of counter-attacking and dodging. She used the force to slam into the golem's fist, and using the momentum to leap backwards, then with a snap of her fingers, the follow-up cuts from her previous slash came and hit the golem all over its body*.

"We should help out too!" **IF** says, rushing in towards the golem while slicing the Bits that would get in her way. She yells out a "Hey, over here!" as she detaches one of her blades and throws it as the golem's face.

The blade merely bounces off the golem's face, but it was enough to direct its attention from the goddess flying around in front of it. The golem slowly cranes its head downwards to the girl standing below.

 **Black Heart** widens her eyes at **IF** 's move. "Hey, wait! Are you crazy?! You can't take a hit from that thing head-on–"

The golem raises its other fist and swings it downwards at **IF** 's spot. It almost looked like she was going to get crushed with its mighty fist, but at the last second **IF** swiftly dodges the attack to the side, slightly stumbling at the ground shaking due to its impact. She shakes it off and quickly recovers on her feet, and leaps on the golem's fist that was still remaining on the ground. **IF** runs along the golem's arm, materializing another new blade beneath her sleeve, and gives the golem a couple of kicks in the face and slashes with her blade.

The golem makes a low growl of irritation, and smacks **IF** away with its hand. She's sent briefly flying in the air, but **IF** quickly recovers and does a mini-flip in the air as she lands on the ground on her two feet. Dem skills.

 **Black Heart** lets a low sigh of relief at seeing her land safely with no major damages. "Geez, don't just charge in so recklessly like that! You're a human, so you can't take attacks as well as I do!"

Was she actually concerned or insulting her? I can't tell.

 **IF** gives a weary smile back at **Black Heart** in response. It seems she went for the former reasoning. "Sorry about that. I'll be more careful."

 **Momus** shakes his head in disapproval at **IF** 's actions, just finishing off another Bit. "How maladroit, human. A golem's weak point is not its front. If you desire to overcome a hefty foe, you must aim to topple it down from its feet."

"Well, gee, that piece of information would have actually helped if you had actually bothered to -say it earlier-!" **IF** retorts.

He's quite slow like that, you see.

"Hmph, no matter. I will show you the proper execution!" **Momus** declares, as he sprints forward while dodging the beams from the Bits nearby. Once he came within the golem's range, he uses his _[Dark Edge]_ skill scraping his sword lowly at the ground and attempts to sweep off the golem's feet.

Keyword being attempt.

The attack directly connected with the golem's feet, but it didn't even stumble or move an inch.

 **Momus** blinks at this, [Diabolus] still gripped in his hands and in his battle stance. "Hm? How strange. That has always done the deed."

Ah, our dear Overlord protagonist. That may have worked when you were still the all-powerful Overlord you once were, but in here have you forgotten that you are now human and are unable to exhibit any of your past strength?

"...Most infuriating."

The golem swings another fist down at his direction, and he leaps backwards in order to dodge it, right back to his position where **IF** stood.

"Yeah, I saw it, alright," **IF** remarks sarcastically, unimpressed.

"You be quiet, human!"

 **Black Heart** had witnessed his embarrassing attempt and rolls her eyes. "I'll handle it. _[Lace Ribbons]_!"

She rushes forward, leaps in the air and delivers a kick that sends the opponent in the air (well in this case, lifting the golem off slightly from the ground), and giving it a couple of kicks and slashes. Her attack actually sends the golem to tip over and ready to fall, but **Black Heart** doesn't stop there, and follows it off with a kick and forcefully slams the golem down to the ground with a harsh blow from her sword*.

Pulling off two [SP Skills] straight in a row? Is this legit?

Is this the power of popularity? Is it? Is it?!

Well, going back to the outcome of the battle, the impact of the golem landing on the ground sends a massive tremor to occur throughout the entire building that it's a miracle how the building wasn't falling apart yet. Lastation construction work perhaps?

"Alright! It's down! Pile on!*"

Just as **Momus** and **IF** ready themselves to give the downed opponent a beating, the golem starts to sputter and blink in a glitchy manner.

"Huh? This...?!"

As the golem continues to spark in a multitude of different glitchy colors, the various metals and equipment around the area were coming apart and were starting to gather around the golem's body.

"What's happening?! Hey, you know what's going on?!" **IF** exclaims, facing **Momus** with a distressed expression.

"...Ah, when a golem starts to grow weak, in an act of desperation it will absorb nearby substances to strengthen its defenses," **Momus** explains.

"Seriously, would it kill you to say this kind of information earlier?!" **IF** yells at him.

Our so-called hero's lack of initiative aside, the three eventually focus on the golem where the entire equipment around the laboratory was being merged with the golem's body, starting to form like pieces of armor.

It slowly stands up, the armor forming and attaching to its body one by one.

It formed to the feet and legs!

It formed to the arms and body!

And... it formed to the head!*

...This certainly would have been epic to look at if there was an animation present, but sadly, this is a fanfiction. So settle with your imaginations instead.

"What the hell is with that Trans*BEEP*-like sequence?!" **Black Heart** exclaims upon witnessing it.

"Nepgear would have a field day if she saw this..." **IF** mutters, looking as incredulous as **Black Heart** is.

* * *

Meanwhile, on a dimension far, far away* but-is-actually-kind-of-near-due-to-a-convenient-portal, inside a certain nation's Basilicom's depths, in a certain purple-haired girl's private laboratory...

"My technophile senses are tingling...!"

* * *

Back in the Ultradimension, the three were currently staring upon the newly mecha-transformed golem with varying degrees of shock and surprise. It should be fairly obvious who is reacting respectively.

The mecha-golem's body glitches for a brief moment, then more viral Bits started to spawn inside the room, multiplying at an alarmingly fast rate.

"So that's where the source of viral monsters are coming from..." **Black Heart** mutters, roaming her eyes around the swarm of Bits before locking her gaze at the mecha-golem. She turns to face **Momus** and **IF** who were standing a ways behind her. "IF! And you! I'll handle the golem, while you two take care of the Bits!"

"Wait, why must the lowly opponents be given to me?" **Momus** complains.

"Seeing your display earlier, I highly doubt you can finish off that golem on your own. As a CPU, I have the strength to battle it. But the rest of these enemies are going to be a pain to deal with, so I want the both of you to back me up," **Black Heart** explains in a straightforward tone.

 **Momus** looked he was about to open his mouth to respond, most likely to complain some more, when **IF** cuts him off.

"Understood. We'll deal with the enemies here."

"Hm." **Black Heart** briefly nods in acknowledgement at her answer, and turns to face the mecha-golem in front of her, starting to engage it with her blade.

 **Momus** shifts an irritated glare towards **IF**. "Human, you dare interrupt me?!"

 **IF** glares back at him. "Listen, you. Now's not the time to be worrying about whether you get to defeat the main boss all protagonist-like. What we need to do is get rid of all these monsters so they won't cause anymore problems for anyone. All of us want to get this thing done and over with, and we're not going to get anywhere if you keep whining about it."

 **Momus** narrows his eyes at her, but must have realized her point as he eventually turns to face the Bits that were hovering nearby, conveniently waiting for their turn, as he readies his sword. "...If I must."

 **IF** lets out a low "hmph" at his behavior, and proceeds to dash forward and slash and kick at the Bits surrounding her.

The battle went along with **Black Heart** fighting against the large mecha-golem who would throw its powerful punches at her, and she would skillfully dodge those attacks with her convenient flying abilities, and counter-attack. Because of the mecha-golem's large size, it was expectedly, as slow as heavy enemies came, so it wasn't able to move from its spot at all as it was far too busy dealing with the CPU that was buzzing around it like a fly.

On the other hand, we have our human duo. Their battle went as expected. With all the slashing, the dodging...

*CRASH*

"Ow! What the hell?!"

"Human! In case you are not aware, I have a nuisance that I must eliminate!"

"Hey, -I- was the one after that Bit! Get another one!"

*ZOOM*

"Human! Do you not see that other foe behind you?!"

"I'm busy here! Handle it yourself!"

"Hmph, how weak."

"Who are you calling weak you son of a–"

*ZAP*

"Agh, dammit! That Bit got me! Hey, can you give me a [Nep Bull]?"

"Hm, how does one access the item storage...?"

"Ugh, you just–"

"Oh, this particular wall appeared and magically made it appear in my hand. How advantageous. Here."

"Wha–! AGH, DON'T THROW IT PASS IT TO ME LIKE A NORMAL PERSON–"

...the usual battle conversations...

 **Momus** swings his sword at a nearby Bit, smacking it away into another Bit, causing it to explode. Said Bit happened to have been hovering near a certain CPU, who narrowly missed ended up being caught in the explosion.

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE AIMING!"

"You were in the way."

 **Black Heart** 's eye twitched in response.

...and the occasional friendly fire.

But they seem to be actually getting the job done, so this is a good thing. Teamwork and friendship is truly wonderful.

As of the moment, **Momus** and **IF** were just about to clear away all the Bits in the room. There was only one left, so...

*Slash!*

 **Momus** , with his sword about to swing, glares at **IF**. "Human, I was supposed to end it."

"Too bad, I got it first," **IF** replies dismissively.

Well, that's simply how it is when one has the faster [AGI] stat.

 **Momus** was just about to retort back, when suddenly a large red beam shot past him, barely hitting him but burning a hole through the tip of his scarf instead, with **Black Heart** being shown to have crashed into one of the walls behind as the beam subsided.

"Augh..."

"Lady Noire?!" While **Momus** was staring blankly at his repaired scarf that managed to get damaged (yet again), **IF** rushes over to **Black Heart** 's side in worry.

 **Black Heart** detaches herself from the wall she had just crashed into, showing that a large hole had ended up being imprinted onto it.

"Agh... there's no need to worry... I'm fine. I was just caught off-guard, that's all... I didn't expect it to have an attack like that..."

At her words, **Momus** and **IF** turn to gaze at the mecha-golem, slouched over and looking worn out; however, it had its mouth open and something seemed to be glowing within it.

"What the...?! Is it charging for a beam attack?! That's the first time we've seen it use an attack like that!" **IF** exclaims in disbelief.

Don't tell me this is one of those "powerful final techniques" that people pass off as being an awesome secret move when it was actually just thought up on the fly and came out of nowhere?

 **Momus** raises a brow. "While I am not familiar on what you are speaking of, All-Knowing One, it takes a certain amount of time for golems to adjust on the newly assimilated energy they have acquired."

"Ugh, so it must have gotten that beam attack from all the leftover technology that was installed in this laboratory..." **Black Heart** mutters in displeasure.

"...! Dammit, it looks like it's about to shoot again...!" **IF** exclaims in alarm.

They could only stand frozen in place as they brace themselves for the incoming beam. **Momus** merely stares at the approaching red energy, his face taking in a contemplative expression. Just as it neared them, he used those few seconds to dash forward with his sword, unleashing his _[Shadow Slash]_ skill at it. The dual slashes intercept the beam, before he follows it up with _[Consuming Shadow]_ , the large mass of dark energy resembling a maw absorbing the scattered, thinner beams that flew out afterwards.

Not wasting a second, he continues to run ahead towards the mecha-golem, its mouth still wide open from unleashing its attack. Taking advantage of its slow reactions, he draws back his sword and plunges it into the its open mouth, preventing it from charging up another beam. The mecha-golem blinks at the sword stuck in its throat, and lifts its head in an attempt to shake off the boy, who was firmly gripping [Diabolus] so he wouldn't fall off as he was left dangling in the air.

"...! This chance...!" **Black Heart** 's eyes widen, and uses this opportunity to quickly rush forward at the mecha-golem who was far too distracted with the boy.

With her blade, she slashes at the golem's torso multiple times, in all directions. She then briefly imbues it with a rainbow-colored energy, said to be channeled from the faith of her people; and gives a few more powerful slashes, before she drops the sword on the mecha-golem, the rainbow-colored energy dispersing and dealing damage with a snap of her finger*.

The mecha-golem's body blinks and sputters in a mess of distorted data before it starts to disappear; **Momus** letting his sword vanish and jumping back on the ground.

 **Black Heart** watches the surroundings fade back to normal as she places her feet back on the ground, and transforms back into her human form. She faces the so-called Overlord who was standing behind and wordlessly glaring at her for having attacked it even though he was hanging from it. In a way, it actually is a miracle he didn't get hurt from all the slashing that just occurred.

"You were in the way."

 **Momus** 's eye twitched in response.

 _ **\+ VICTORY! +**_

 **LEVEL UP!**

 **MOMUS 27 - 32**

 **IF 25 - 29**

 **NOIRE 28 - 33**

 _ **ITEM DROP: EMBARRASSING PHOTO**_

"WHOA, WHOA–WAIT, WHAT!?"

 **Momus** absently catches the fluttering photo that manifested from data from the mecha-golem's defeat. He had only managed to glimpse at the photo for a few seconds, before he is roughly shoved aside, the photo being ripped from his hands by a hysterical CPU.

"W-W-WHA–WHY IS THIS HERE?! HOW?! I MADE SURE I DESTROYED EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE THINGS!"

Oh, it could be because that mecha-golem had merged with the technology in this laboratory, so perhaps there was leftover data stored in those machines as well?

"A-A-AAARGH! Forget trying to repair this place! I'LL DESTROY IT AND BURN IT TO THE GROUND SO THAT NOT A SINGLE TRACE OF THIS ACCURSED PLACE REMAINS!" **Noire** yells with a red face which may possibly be in rage or embarrassment, or even both, as she has the photo crumpled in her hands.

...And just like that, **Noire** 's earlier "cool aura" disappeared, making way into the raging lunatic one sees now.

 **Momus** merely stares at the seething **Noire** with a disturbed expression, currently being supported by **IF** , whom he ended up being shoved into. "...The Lastation deity seems to be a highly mentally unstable individual... her constant inconsistencies in behavior... it was to foreshow this...?!"

 **IF** sweatdrops as she stares at **Noire** angrily muttering to herself. "...Lady Noire's prone to being... moody, but I wouldn't go as far as to label her as mentally unstable..."

Suddenly, **IF** 's eyes widen, as her brain catches up on the current moment and notices she's been holding onto **Momus**. Realizing this, she promptly shoves him to the ground.

Naturally, **Momus** reacts predictably; after recovering from being shoved (twice), he gets up and starts to yell at her.

 **IF** stares at him with half-lidded eyes, tuning out his usual ranting. ('...This is the second time an incident like this has happened so far... the viral monsters... the monsters appearing from his dimension... I still don't know how he's connected to all of this... but once I find enough evidence, I'll expose how he's responsible for this and save Gamindustri from the clutches of evil! I won't let him have his way! For I am IF, The Beautiful Gust of Wind That Blows Through Gamindustri–!')

*RING RING*

 **IF** snaps out of her thoughts and brings out her phone to check the message.

"...and a human like you dare has the arrogance to unceremoniously push me to the cold, hard earth–human, are you listening to me?!"

"...Hey, Histoire just messaged me. Lady Plutia apparently won't wake up, so she wants you to handle the rest of the paperwork."

 **Momus** grows silent at her words.

Then, a louder wail overwhelming that of **Noire** 's yelling could be heard from the entire building.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT–"

Hm, just another day for our self-proclaimed Overlord.

Oh, and yes, before I forget! Our so-called hero has gained yet another achievement!

 **GAINED THE "TSUNDERE TRIO" ACHIEVEMENT!**

Those three do make quite the combination. For once, a certain perpetually-sleepy goddess was not able to join our so-called protagonist in his adventures in this chapter, but it would have felt forced if she always had to be present, so this unique party combination ended up being formed in the end.

Not to mention it would have been completely unbecoming. **Plutia**? Spending every single chapter doing work? Highly doubtful.

That aside, we now move on to the usual questions that I may or may not end up explaining from time to time:

The second incident that's happened? This time in another nation?

Gasp, oh noes! Just what exactly does this all tie to? Especially when our self-proclaimed Overlord is apparently involved?

Oh, what's that about a system mentioned in this chapter, you ask? Credit cards? Disk summoning weapons? Does such a thing actually exist in the game? No, it doesn't! Such lies! ...Ah, those are just the author's attempts in trying to make sense of how the Neptunia world works. Even though gameplay changes for every new game, so it's kind of useless!

Why have the categories suddenly changed into "Humor" and "Adventure"?

Just what exactly does being "the beautiful wind that blows through Gamindustri" mean? And where did **IF** come up with such a thing when she doesn't even possess any wind-based attacks?

Does anyone actually even bother to read this story anymore?

Some I don't know, some I do. Ho-hum.

Well, with all those said, that is all for this chapter!

* * *

 **CHAPTER SEVEN - CLEAR!**

 **》** **CHAPTER EIGHT** **《**

 _ **LOADING...**_

* * *

 **STATS**

 **MOMUS (LEVEL 32)**

 **WEAPON** : Diabolus (cannot be unequipped)

 **OUTFIT** : Apparently Evil

 **ACCESSORY** : Scarf of Apparent Evil

 **AFFECTION RANKS:** Plutia {4}, Neptune {3}, Nepgear {3}, Compa {3}, Histoire {3}, Noire {2}, Blanc {2}, Vert {2}, MAGES. {2}, Peashy {2}, Rei Ryghts {2}, IF {1}

 **SP SKILLS:**

\- Dark Edge (Dr)

\- Consuming Shadow (Dr)

\- Shadow Slash (Dr)

 **EXE DRIVE:**

\- Diabolic Devastator (Dr)

\- Dual Darkness (Formation Skill w/Plutia) (Dr) (MenDown)

\- Sword Onslaught (Formation Skill w/Neptune) (Dr) (StrDown)

 **COMMAND SKILLS:**

RUSH: Slash, Sword Slice, Myriad Slash

POWER: Edge Breaker, Wide Arc, Cleave

GUARD BREAK: Down Strike, Upper Slice, Side Strike

EX Finisher: X-Slash, Soul Pierce, Grave Pierce

* * *

 **EXTRA NOTES**

*Noire/Black Heart's SP Skill: _[Tornado Chain]_.

*Noire/Black Heart's SP Skill: _[Drop Crush]_.

* _Persona 4_ reference. Actually has a bit of an "Actor Allusion" as well, because Noire's English voice actor, Erin Fitzgerald, also voices the character Chie Satonaka from _Persona 4 Arena_ onwards.

* _Voltron_ reference.

* _Star Wars_ reference. Sort of.

*Noire/Black Heart's EXE Drive: _[Infinite Slash]_.


	8. Chapter 8 - Day of Training

**the lone soul:** True, I was thoroughly impressed with how Victory II handled its plot and characters in a more serious light but still managing to keep the humor we all love the series for. I was a bit disappointed with how Plutia and Peashy kinda got reduced to just being Scouts, but I'm glad they at least appeared in MegaTagDimension. If I had to say, I prefer sub because they sound a lot better in Japanese, but for this story I'm at least keeping on how they referred to the characters in the English translation.

 **Linley Baruch:** Thanks!

 **StevieBond:** Yeah, I was aiming for a "gaming feel" in this story since the Neptunia franchise revolves around game parodies and whatnot. xD

 _DISCLAIMER: As far as the author checked, they still don't own anything._

* * *

 **HYPERDIMENSION NEPTUNIA: OVERLOAD**

CHAPTER EIGHT

》START

After the events of the previous chapter, our so-called Overlord protagonist had returned to the Planeptune Basilicom, leaving behind the seething CPU along with an **IF** who had refused to speak with him on the way back.

The day passed, and after a night of our Overlord protagonist complaining to the nation's CPU of her lax attitude and how he had once again been saddled with her work, we now move on to another morning where aside from the Lastation Guild receiving word that a dungeon in their nation had completely disappeared from the map in a fire accident overnight; the chapter's point of interest is once again back to our supposed protagonist who had awoken to yet another day.

However, instead of preparing himself to go through working for a certain idle goddess, he is currently sitting down on the floor with his arms and legs crossed and eyes shut as if he were in deep thought.

He looks like as if he is meditating upon something with large intensity. It would've been a serious sight to behold, were he not doing it while in his brightly pink-colored room.

The contrasting environment aside, I have an idea to what our self-proclaimed powerful protagonist is brooding about.

In the previous chapter, he had been reduced to fighting lower foes like some side character. Though he did manage to fend off the mecha-golem's last minute beam attack, he was left dangling from its mouth like a helpless boy and escaped being injured by an [EXE Drive] attack due to convenient game mechanics; not to mention that there was his embarrassing attempt at trying to take down the golem–

"There is no need for you to delineate every single detail!" **Momus** interrupts with a yell, snapping his eyes open in irritation.

So the fact had been glaringly presented to him–

"Are you even paying attention to me?!"

–That he is weak.

"HEY!"

...What? Don't tell me you will go as far as to deny what had occurred in the previous chapter? **Noire** and **IF** and all the readers had witnessed it for themselves.

 **Momus** grits his teeth, shuts his eyes and raises a trembling fist in an over-dramatic fashion. "Ggh... I will acknowledge that at my current state, my strength is a circumstance that is to be undesired..."

Then he opens his eyes with blazing determination brimming within. "So the only way I can seek to recetify this condition is to engage myself rigorously in battle!"

Ah, so you will be training.

A grave glint comes to his eyes. "There is only one foe that I deem to be ferocious enough for this task..."

* * *

"Ooh! You wanna play with me, plant man?" **Peashy** eagerly asks.

"What we are doing here is not for amusement! I am willingly clashing with you as to ameliorate my strength!" **Momus** replies in all-seriousness.

...You do realize that you are confronting a child, right?

 **Peashy** happily claps her paw-gloved hands together. "Yay, playtime! Mommy didn't take me to work today, so I'm reaaally bored!"

"Come at me, little beast!" **Momus** yells, shifting to a battle stance.

...You are aware that you are planning to engage in a duel against a child, right?

"Heeeere I goooo!" **Peashy** , with an excitedly spinning fist, rushes towards **Momus**. As soon as she neared him, she gives a little jump and punches him straight in the chest.

 ***WHAM! ! !***

Judging by that extreme sound effect, that punch must have been lethal.

"Guoah...!?"

 **Momus** , wind literally knocked out of him, teeters slightly backwards before slumping into the floor, unconscious. If one looks closely, one could actually see the soul flying out of his mouth.

"Haha, that was fun! I wanna play more! Come on, plant man! Don't take a nap here! Play with me some more! Come on, come on!" **Peashy** laughs, approaches the downed Overlord and proceeded to pound at his chest in an attempt to wake him up, but the sheer force of her "pokes" was most likely causing more damage and making him sink deeper into the pits of unconsciousness instead.

Just then, **Compa** comes into the room. "Pea-Pea, do you want some snacks before I go–U-uwaah! Mr. Overlord?! Are you okay?!"

Oh my, what a pitiable sight. The so-called great Overlord Momus, defeated by a child. The situation would be so laughable if I wasn't doing it already.

 **PEASHY'S AFFECTION HAS INCREASED TO LEVEL {3}**

At least someone had fun.

* * *

Once our apparent hero had regained consciousness thanks to the aid of the pink-haired nurse, **Momus** had grudgingly deemed **Peashy** as far too "savage at his current strength" and left the Basilicom as to not associate with the "little beast" residing in it any longer.

Though the mere notion that he considers a child such as **Peashy** as some dangerous, ferocious beast is as ludricrous enough in itself.

Anyway, our self-proclaimed Overlord decided to seek another means of fighting a capable foe elsewhere. He went for the other simplistic alternative that was before him: battling monsters through quests.

As of the moment, he was roaming his eyes over at the quest board over at the Guild.

 _[Terminate mutated spiders]_

 _Guilty researcher_

 _Quest rank: B_

 _Objective: We had been developing a virus, and tested it out on some spiders. The results were a success - though perhaps too successful, as they had attacked some of the researchers and managed to escape the facility. We've managed to pinpoint their location in the [Keraga Dimension], but we can't possibly stand a chance against those things now so we have resorted to posting this quest and see if some other person will be willing to take this task instead. Arachnophobes not recommended._

 _Planeptune: +3%_

 _Lastation: -3%_

"Hm, intriguing. Transmuted arachnids! This should prove to be an adequate foe!" **Momus** declares in a satisfactory tone.

Just before he was about to accept the quest...

"Hey, mister! Are you gonna take that quest too?"

 **Momus** turns to the source of the voice, and sees a familiar figure smiling at him.

"...Sprightly One? What are you doing here?"

He blinks down at her in confusion, seeing as she seemed to only reach his waist and had a change of wardrobe as she was wearing a black-colored hoodie and black clips on her hair.

The girl blinks back at him to indicate her confusion as well, but her smile and cheerful demeanor continues to remain in place. "Huh? No, my name's Neptune! And I dunno who you are! I've never met you before! I'd remember someone with a big antenna sticking out of their head if I did!"

 **Momus** narrows his eyes, his "antenna" bent and sharpened in her direction as if it were also reacting in the same offended manner as he was. "My hair is of a suitable quality!"

Despite being yelled at, the girl doesn't look disturbed at all, continuing to smile at him. **Momus** could only sigh in exasperation at her lack of reaction. "...No matter. The state of my hair is not significant at the moment. You have not answered my inquiry, Sprightly One! And what baffles me is why have you shrunk!?"

The girl tilts her head. "Huh? Shrunk? Sure, I'm kinda tiny, but I'm still a growing girl you know!"

 **Momus** continues to look confused. "What...?"

Ah, I see the case here.

"Hm? What are you talking about, All-Knowing One?!"

You are aware that other dimensions exist other than this one, correct? The Neptune that you see before you is different from the one from the Hyperdimension and must be native to this one. By the looks of it, her lessened height is most likely because she is still just a child.

"A counterpart, you say...? This world never ceases to bewilder me with their intricate principles," **Momus** says with a sigh, rubbing his temples.

"Oooh, cool! You even have your own narrator! Now I definitely want you for my party!" **Child Neptune** remarks with shining eyes.

"What...?"

 **Child Neptune** immediately straightens as if she remembered something. "Oh, yeah, right! That's what I supposed to ask you in the first place! You're gonna take that quest, right? I was gonna take it too, but I think it'd be a lot better if we both did it!"

"Just what kind of proposal are you trying to say here?" **Momus** asks, his slow mind still not grasping her words.

"I wanna join you on that quest! I like collecting all kinds of lil' crawlies, so I'm always on the look out for quests that have bug monsters in 'em!" **Child Neptune** replies in a chipper tone, taking a glance at said quest posted on the board in front of her. "And according to this one, it's all the way in the [Keraga Dimension], so I could use an adult like you to come along."

"Yes, so it seems–'Keraga... Dimension'...?! Wait, do not tell me this is located in yet another realm?!" **Momus** exclaims.

 **Child Neptune** laughs at the shocked expression on **Momus** 's face. "Haha, don't be silly, that's just the dungeon's name! Well, uh, if I remember in the map, Keraga Dimension's in [Hello Continent]... and uh, that you're gonna need to take a boat to get there... so yeah, it'd help if I had a grown-up with me!"

 **Momus** stares down at her in a superior manner. Because apparently, a conceited Overlord like him will look down on even children. "Hm, is a child like you capable of combat?"

"Hehe, don't underestimate me! I've been questing for some time already, you know! I can handle it! Besides, all the ten-year old kids always go out on a journey in Lowee, so I should be fine!*" **Child Neptune** says with a confident smile as she places her hands on her hips.

Not sure if that applies to you since you're not a resident of that nation, but oh well. Nothing like having a child in your party and exposing a prepubescent to various severities of the world to complete a journey!

 **CHILD NEPTUNE HAS BEEN ADDED.**

 **Momus** nods his head slightly to show his satisfaction. "Hm, very well. Let us get going, then."

As he had recalled what **Plutia** and **Neptune** had done before, **Momus** taps the digital quest board with a finger. The particular tab darkened to show it was taken with the words [QUEST ACCEPTED]. Once he was done, he turns back and starts to leave, before he is stopped by **Child Neptune**.

"Oh, wait! You still haven't told me your name, antenna man! It'd be kinda rude not to know your name seeing as we're gonna be in the same party and all!"

"That is Overlord Momus to you, child!" **Momus** states.

"Okay! Let's do our best together, Momo!" **Child Neptune** replies with a cheery smile.

 **Momus** feels his eye twitch at the familiar nickname. "'Momo'...?"

 **Child Neptune** nods. "Yeah! You gave me a funny little nickname so it's only fair that I give you one too!"

 **Momus** 's face darkens in exasperation. "Ergh, I have no doubts about your identity now. You have the same appelation sense as the other Sprightly One." He lets out a huff. "Come, tiny Sprightly One. I refuse to tarry here."

"Alrighty!" **Child Neptune** responds as she follows **Momus** out of the Guild.

* * *

And so the two proceeded to trek the long way on the road.

Do vehicles even exist in this franchise? The only method that the characters seem to use to get to their place of destination involves a lot of walking, especially for the ones who are not CPUs with their convenient floating powers. Either all the locations are surprisingly nearby than they look like on the map or this is Gamindustri's conspiracy just to get the main character of the series to get some exercise; the players may never know.

Either way, from all the way to Planeptune, the two walked out into the large grassfields where **Momus** , not familiar with the directions and had absolutely no idea where to go, simply followed the long, convenient dirt road that was placed, where it led to a forest that they had to pass through.

Though **Momus** wanted to hurry and get to their designated location as quickly as possible, **Child Neptune** had other plans.

"Ooh, ooh! A pretty butterfly!" **Child Neptune** stops to stare at a butterfly that passed by over her head in awe, then starts to run after it.

"Tiny Sprightly One, have I not told you that I do not want to squander time?!" **Momus** tells her in irritation.

"But I want it for my collection!" **Child Neptune** whines back, as she jumps in the air and catches the butterfly by its wings. "Yay, got it!"

Using her free hand, she takes out a jar that came out from seemingly out of nowhere from the depths of her pocket and quickly places the butterfly inside.

 **Momus** stared.

That is hammerspace in action, our so-called protagonist.

 **Child Neptune** holds the jar at her eye level and admires the butterfly inside. "It's so pretty! I mean, look at it! It's golden! I wonder if it's secretly a witch that can grant wishes?*"

 **Momus** blinks away his disbelief as an annoyed expression makes his way into his face. "Now that you have obtained the arthropod, we should get moving."

"Aw, but there might be more cool bugs around! I wanna look and see!" **Child Neptune** says with a small pout.

A vein pops out from **Momus** 's head. "We are not supposed to be dawdling!"

 **Child Neptune** reluctantly consents and resumes walking, but every once in a while, she would still stop by to catch any insect that caught her interest, to **Momus** 's annoyance.

"Just what is it about these insects that impels you to capture them so fervently?!" **Momus** remarks in annoyance as **Child Neptune** has (presumably) finished catching her final insect for now.

"I dunno, I always found bugs to be interesting! I like catching the cool-looking ones and staring at them and stuff," **Child Neptune** replies. "Oh, ooh! Just a couple of weeks ago, I found this super unique bug! She talks and floats on top of this book! It was kinda hard to stuff her in a jar with the book, but I managed to do it somehow!"

"A book, you say? For some reason, I find that manner of description to be familiar..." **Momus** says thoughtfully.

Well, it's his usual slow mind again. I'm not surprised.

"I was reeaally proud on catching a really cool-looking bug like her! I showed her off to the other kids in the orphanage and they were really impressed too! Auntie Caretaker doesn't like it when she says bad words, though..." **Child Neptune** trails off with a small frown, but immediately brightens afterwards as she continues speaking. "But Crostie's really easy to take care of! She told me she only 'runs on dark energy' or whatever and doesn't even need to be fed! That's good enough for me!"

 **Momus** only releases a sigh at the girl's enthusiasm. "I am unable to fathom what exactly it is about gathering antrophods you find enlivening, but I suppose such puerile deeds are only befitting of a child such as you."

"Haha, you use big words, Momo!" **Child Neptune** says in amusement. "Good thing I'm a smart kid, though! I understand most of the stuff that Auntie Caretaker teaches us in the orphanage!"

 **Momus** grows confused at her words. "'Orphanage'? What is that?"

Hah, I knew our so-called hero's ignorance to society would come up eventually.

"Huh? You don't know what an orphanage is? For a grown-up, you sure don't know a lot!" **Child Neptune** comments in an amused tone.

"Grgh, fine! If it is something not worth my time, then I have no need to acquire the information!" **Momus** grunts out in offense.

Oh, look at you, acting like a small child that was denied a treat.

"All-Knowing One, your words are most aggravating!"

It's what I do.

 **Child Neptune** snickers. "Heehee, you two are funny! Well, anyway, I don't mind telling you what it means, Momo! Let Teacher Nep educate you!" She straightens her posture, and raises a finger and attempts a serious expression for her "lecture". "The orphanage is where little kiddies like me are taken care of since we got no parents! Apparently I got dropped off on the doorstep as a baby, so I've been living with my NPC brothers and sisters ever since!"

Her words would've been a lot more unfortunate had she not said it with such nonchalance and even mixed it with a meta comment.

"I really don't mind! The kids are fun to play with and Auntie Caretaker is nice! It is kinda weird that I can't see their faces, but I don't let that get to me!" **Child Neptune** says with a bright smile.

"Hm, so I see that not all human offsprings remain with their progenitors..." **Momus** muses.

Incidentally, where do you think human children come from?

"Hm? But of course even I am aware of such details! They are delivered to the humans by the large, white long-legged avian they refer to as the 'stork'!"

I have this urge to laugh again.

"Huuuh? Noooo, you're wrong, Momo! Babies come from cabbages! The parents plant a seed on the ground then that's when a baby sprouts from it!" **Child Neptune** corrects. "Of course, I like to think that I came from a special 'pudding-cabbage'!"

...They'll learn the truth eventually. With the right education.

And so, with that banter aside and backstory obtained, the two eventually came out of the forest after going over a creek, and headed for the harbor, and got on a boat.

To rid herself of boredom, **Child Neptune** would endlessly babble random topics along the way to a **Momus** whose facial expression could promptly be summed up as a "why-do-I-have-to-put-up-with-this-and-I'm-having-regrets" the entire time.

* * *

 **\- KERAGA DIMENSION -**

"A rather peculiar place this seems to be..." **Momus** mutters as he looks around and sees the various bits and codes floating about in the space, and the neon-colored lights flashing in digital archways.

I suppose there was a reason why it has the name "Dimension" strapped on it.

"Will an arachnid even show itself here? This kind of domain seems inapposite for an insectoid to inhabit," He adds.

"We're talking about mutated spiders here! Maybe this kinda dungeon suits its mutated needs or something," **Child Neptune** replies. "Oh, looky! There's one right now!"

She excitedly points to a large spider that happened to be crawling by ahead, its back facing them and still not aware of their presence.

"I'mma get it!" **Child Neptune** takes out not one - but two disks and throws them forward. Seconds later, she takes a large leap and grasps the disks just as they had materialized into swords into her hands, then wastes no time in slashing at the spider while still in mid-air.

 _ **SYMBOL ATTACK!**_

 **Momus** could only blink and stare after the girl's nimble display. "Sprightly One indeed..."

 **Child Neptune** jumps backwards and lands herself on the floor, then slashes at the spider numerous times until she chipped away all of its HP. "Bye-bye~!"

Just as the spider burst into data, an [EDGE] and an odd monster that looked like an old man that had a spaceship-like device wrapped in his waist appeared, having most likely been drawn to the sounds of battle.

"Ergh, why is it that there seems to be more of them when there's supposed to be only one opponent?" **Momus** says with an irked twitch.

Gameplay deception!

 **Momus** shakes his head and releases a sigh, then brings out his sword. He rushes forward at the EDGE and deals a couple of hard slashes onto its solid metal body.

"No hard feelings for this, old man... thing!" **Child Neptune** says, then delivers two strong upward slashes at the [Bundodo Old Man]. It - he? attempts to ram the small girl with its spaceship-thing, but she takes a quick step to the side and counter-attacks with another set of slashes. Once she had finished it off, she turns to **Momus** who was still trying to whittle away at the EDGE's firm defenses.

"You need help there, Momo?"

"I have no need for your assistance, tiny Sprightly One!" **Momus** grunts out, as he pushes his sword against the EDGE's needle-like wings that were trying to pierce him. [Diabolus] eventually overpowers it, and just as it managed to smack the EDGE's wings away, **Momus** quickly strikes it with a great slash from his sword, knocking it back and disappearing into data afterwards.

 _ **\+ VICTORY! +**_

 _ **ITEM DROP: ELASTIC THREAD**_

 **Momus** sighs and puts his free hand into his hip. "Knowing the circumstances of these quests, I anticipate that we will have to defeat a certain number of these foes?"

"Yep, yeah! That's how they usually go!" **Child Neptune** replies, then brings out the quest window. "Says here we gotta defeat... around eight of 'em!"

"As I had expected... Well, no matter. This is all to fortify myself! These insectoids must prove themselves worth my time!" **Momus** says, raising a determined fist.

"Yeaaah!" **Child Neptune** goes along with **Momus** 's enthusiasm, and raises both of her swords in the air.

Seeing as there were no more spiders lingering about in their area, they headed deeper inside in search of more of the supposed "mutated spiders".

While **Child Neptune** was busy slashing at another spider, once her turn was over, it spits a web in her direction, making her back away.

The spider scuttles forward and leaps for the girl, as if it were going to bite her, and just as **Child Neptune** readies her swords to slash at it, another wide arc in the air is what slices it into two.

"Thanks, Momo!" **Child Neptune** turns to **Momus** with a smile, who doesn't seem to acknowledge her gratitude and is standing off to the side with an annoyed look.

"These are supposed to be arachnids that have been instilled with power, are they not?! Yet these do not seem to be as powerful as I have thought they would be! I am tho - rou - ghly dissatisfied!" **Momus** complains, repeatedly stabbing at the downed spider in front of him with each emphasis he made on his statement while facing **Child Neptune**.

 **Child Neptune** gazes thoughtfully at the remaining dark-colored spider that was waiting for its turn ahead. "Hmmm, yeah, even though they're not really that strong, having a giant mutated spider isn't so bad too, so I'll just beat that last one up and get it for my collection!"

She rushes in with her swords at her sides, then proceeds to deliver numerous slashes at it. While enduring her assault, the spider twitches violently as it suddenly became surrounded by a dark purplish energy.

"Whoa, it went all virus..." **Child Neptune** comments in surprise.

The proper term is [viral], actually.

The now viral spider opens it mouth and releases a shrill shriek that resounded throughout the entire dungeon.

"Huh? What's it doing...?!" **Child Neptune** asks out loud with widened eyes.

"Does it not normally do that?" **Momus** remarks, staring at the shrieking spider with a slightly confused face.

Seemingly responding to the spider's call, more spiders come flocking into the area, accompanied by other monsters that resided in the dungeon. The spiders, in particular, start to pile up on the main spider one by one, until they start to morph together and finally combine into one glitchy gigantic mess of a spider whose appearance has warped and distorted into a vicious monster possessing more limbs that a normal spider should have.

One would normally be rendered into a terrified mess at the sight of such a monster, but perhaps for the residents of Gamindustri, these kind of occurrences are deemed as normal. Or maybe it's because our two "heroes" right now simply possess minds that are beyond what people consider normal.

 **Momus** has a hand placed under his chin, staring at the newly formed spider with a contemplative face. "Hmm, so this is how large creatures such as the colossal gelatinous beast come to be."

"Ooooh, wow! Now that's definitely a unqiue spider! I want it even more now!" **Child Neptune** exclaims with sparkling eyes.

The... hmm, how does one call a strange creature such as this? ...Well, we'll just call it the [Giant Mutated Spider With a Lot of Legs] as it is - lets out another distorted roar as it leaps into one of the many poles in the area and starts to spit out various webs in different directions to reduce their space as it leapt from one pole to another. One would have dismissed the webs as a very spider-like thing to do... had those very webs had not been sparking with electricity.

"Giant spider with tons of legs and shoots out electric webs?! Even more cool! I'm gonna get it for my collection!" **Child Neptune** says eagerly.

Smacking her way through the other monsters that got in her path with her swords, she rushes towards the pole where the spider was currently resting at and throws both of her swords at it.

One must be thinking, "Hurling your only weapons at an enemy? What the eff?", but thankfully her swords seem to have a boomerang function included in them as after having slashed at the spider, her swords end up slashing it again before returning to **Child** **Neptune** 's hands.

Though the attack clearly worked, the spider doesn't show any ounce of visible pain as it only screeches in annoyance before shooting another electrified web that narrowly missed hitting the girl by her feet as it leaps for another pole again.

"Huh? Didn't it work?" **Child Neptune** wonders in confusion.

"Hmph, obviously your attack was far too feeble!" **Momus** retorts in a dismissive manner, rushing towards the spider, then jumps in the air as he delivers a slash at it.

The spider doesn't even flinch, and gives an angry screech as it spits another web that would have likely electrified his face had he not dodged and leapt back to the ground.

Now, now, our self-proclaimed Overlord; let's not call other people's attacks as weak when your own attacks are weak.

A vein pops out of **Momus** 's head. "Silence, All-Knowing One!"

The spider, for once, leaps down on the floor and starts to rush towards the two with its usual distorted screech. Seeing this opportunity, **Child Neptune** readies her swords.

"Let me try again!"

She sprints forward and intercepts the spider's rush. She repeatedly slashes it, but the spider doesn't seem to be all that affected by her attacks.

"Ehh? Why?" **Child Neptune** says in perplexion, as she has to jump back as the spider swings one of its larger pincer-like forelegs at her.

Meanwhile, **Momus** was busy finishing off the other EDGEs, Bits and floating old men that had crowded around them.

"Argh, nuisances!" In his frustration, **Momus** bats away a Bit with his sword. It's sent sailing towards another Bit, and explodes when they crashed in a repeat of the events of the mecha-golem incident a few days back.

It just so happened that the explosion occurred near the giant spider thing, and it hisses when some of the fire made contact with its skin.

 **Momus** 's eyes widen at the sight. "It is vulnerable to fire!"

 **Child Neptune** perks up at his words. "Oh, really?"

She swings one of her swords at a nearby Bit in order to replicate his actions, but the spider quickly jumps up to avoid the explosion.

"Aww, hey! Come back here! No fair!"

 **Momus** delivers an aero _[Shadow Slash]_ skill in its direction in an attempt to intercept it, and while the giant spider gives a low hiss when it made contact, it shakes it off and lands in another pole.

 **Momus** grits his teeth. It would be a lot more difficult to damage to it now as it was clinging to a pole again. Any attempt at trying to make it go down would also prove to be challenging as physical attacks did not seem to faze it. There were also only a few Bits left in the area, and it would do them no good if they ran out of Bits to use.

You seem to be in a tight spot here, our so-called protagonist. What course of action will you take now, I wonder?

"Do you not have any useful words to say, All-Knowing One?!"

I would, but I'm not a convenient hint button. Also, as the narrator, it would be in poor taste if I had to interfere with the main character's battle actions. You are a great Overlord, are you not? Can't you think of some strategy to pull through this situation?

"Grrgh...!"

 **Momus** grows silent as he starts to think. One of his eyes start to twitch as he watches **Child Neptune** swing her sword to toss some Bits over at the spider that, though it would get slightly damaged from the wisps of flame that came from the explosions, was not enough to greatly injure it and would dodge off to another pole.

"Guargh, tiny Sprightly One! Stop wasting our only means of harming it!"

"Oh come on, at least I'm trying," is what **Child Neptune** responds with.

 **Momus** 's eye twitches again, about to retort with something in annoyance, when he pauses as some sort of realization seems to sink into his otherwise slow mind.

"I can fling those irksome piece of metal towards the infuriating arachnid with the correct precision!"

Tossing the Bits in the air and making them explode near the spider does seem like a clever idea, but I doubt the spider would go down from just that, so you would need to find some way to guarantee it will finish it off.

"Only now do you place your viewpoint?!"

Now, now, you might want to focus on your battle. Scold me all you want, but that'll get you nowhere.

"...Ggh, I suppose our only alternative is that I throw the irksome piece of metal and let the tiny Sprightly One do likewise to make both of the irritating pieces of metal collide and combust! To ensure that we end it once and for all, we must quickly accompany it with another attack! But, it must be executed swiftly... And the only one who is capable of performing such a feat is..."

His gaze is drawn to **Child Neptune** , who was currently hurling more Bits at the spider.

 **Momus** grits his teeth at his only options, seemingly reluctant to act upon his plan.

So you don't get to finish off the boss "all protagonist-like" this time either. Now isn't really the time for hesitation, as little **Neptune** has just used up another set of Bits, so there's only two of them now.

"What in the–argh, that vexing child! ...Ggh, fine! I will pursue with my tactic! Tiny Sprightly One!"

 **Child Neptune** , who was about to swing her sword at a Bit again, pauses to face **Momus**. "Yeah, what is it?"

"You will follow my instructions! I will toss one of these bothersome pieces of metal, and you must do it with the exact precision! However, you must assault the exasperating arachnid immediately to fully terminate it!" **Momus** shouts towards her.

 **Child Neptune** stares back at him for a couple of seconds, processing the information, then gives him a grin. "Okay, got it!"

"Failure will be unacceptable!" **Momus** tells her as he swats a Bit up in the air, locked on straight at the spider's direction.

"No worries! Leave it to me!" **Child Neptune** follows it up by quickly tossing the second Bit, towards the other Bit, making the two crash into other and predictably explode.

Because it had been aimed exactly near it, the explosion engulfs the spider in flames. It spasms violently while still clinging on to the pole, then **Child Neptune** , with her swords crossed in front of her like an x, takes a great leap and proceeds to deliver four powerful dual slashes, before dealing one final slash with her right sword*.

Once she was done, she lands back on the floor, swinging her sword back to her side coolly with a triumphant grin.

The spider drops down, still covered in flames, screeching all the while as it starts to sputter and glitch as the fire fades away and it shrinks down to a smaller size.

 _ **\+ VICTORY! +**_

 **LEVEL UP!**

 **MOMUS 32 - 35**

 **CHILD NEPTUNE 25 - 28**

 _ **ITEM DROP: HALF-COOKED SPIDER**_

 **GAINED THE "PEST KILLER" ACHIEVEMENT!**

 _[Terminate mutated spiders] quest completed!_

"Ooh, cool! The lil' spidey didn't disappear! Now I can catch it!" **Child Neptune** , still enthusiastic over getting a bug despite said bug became burnt, rushes over the charcoal-colored spider that was currently sitting on the floor, knocked out in an appropriate "dead bug" style.

 **Child Neptune** eagerly brings out an empty jar, only to frown when she realizes she couldn't possibly fit a pillow-sized spider in it. She puts back the jar in her convenient hammerspace and starts to think.

"Are you certain you still want to obtain this smoldering insectoid?" **Momus** asks in a deadpan tone.

"Hmm... Well, I can't place it in a jar, so looks like there's no other way than to carry it!" **Child Neptune** replies cheerfully.

"Is a child like you even capable of lifting its weight?" **Momus** questions.

 **Child Neptune** laughs. "Ahaha, not sure, so that's why I'd like you to carry it!"

 **Momus** stares at her blankly.

Then with all seriousness and firmness he musters out:

"NO."

* * *

Thankfully for them, once the spider had been defeated all of the webs that it had spewed out had vanished, which enabled them to exit the area. And thus they proceeded on the long way back to Planeptune. It took a total of two boat trips to get back to the main island, as Keraga Dimension was located in one of the farthest places in Hello Continent and was only accessible through a boat ride.

If any of the people on-board the boats showed any indication of being disturbed that a little girl was carrying around a giant burnt spider; the girl in question and the blank-faced Overlord with her didn't notice or pay attention to it at all.

As of now, the sun was setting and the two had returned to Planeptune and back to the Guild, where they had successfully reported the completion of their quest.

"Huh, guess I'll have to carry this little guy all the way back to the orphanage," **Child Neptune** comments as she glances at the still knocked out spider in her hand.

"I don't see why you don't merely store it in that 'hammerspace' of yours," **Momus** states.

"Eww, no, Momo, I don't wanna store some wriggly bug in my pockets," **Child Neptune** replies in disgust.

Says the person actually holding it.

"But if I gotta, I gotta. Maybe in the future I oughta get myself a fancy collecting thingy that'll store all sorts of bugs in all kinds of sizes!" **Child Neptune** says enthusiastically.

"Hmph, that is a task that involves yourself and accomplishing your own avocation is all up to you," **Momus** tells her with indifference.

"Hmm, yeah... But anyways, we've finished our quest so looks like our team-up will be ending for today," **Child Neptune** says.

 **Momus** raises a brow. "'For today', you say?"

 **Child Neptune** merely nods with a bright smile on her face. "Yep! I take on quests 'cuz it makes me look for bugs and gives me money to give to the orphanage! And since you seem to be a regular quester too, I know we'll bump into each other again eventually!"

Oh, she surprisingly has unselfish intentions.

"Hehe, 'cuz I'm the main character after all! Well, I gotta go! I don't wanna miss dinner! See you again, Momo!" With a happy smile and wave, **Child Neptune** turns her back and sprints off into the streets. It would've been a rather adorable moment, had she not been waving the hand that held the grossly burnt spider.

 **CHILD NEPTUNE HAS LEFT.**

 **Momus** stares after the young child's silhouette that had vanished over the distance. He remains in a thoughtful silence until...

"That's right! I too cannot afford to miss engaging in supper!"

And coming upon that horrific revelation, **Momus** also runs back to the Planeptune Basilicom.

And so ends this chapter!

Our so-called hero ended up doing nothing but babysit children for this entire chapter, it seems. Or at least got involved with children in some way or another.

Looks like this chapter has centered around another break from the plot again! Constantly switching between a chapter with plot progress and a filler like **Noire** 's tsundere attitude; is that going to be a thing?

It's kind of annoying! Where is the consistency?

And will the other **Neptune** have an actual plot relevance in the future? And why is she calling herself the main character when her version isn't really the focus in _Victory_? Is referring to themselves as the main character simply something that has been genetically ingrained into all Neptunes?

I would answer those questions, but if I did then that would ruin the suspense, wouldn't it? It would be such poor taste for a narrator to do so!

* * *

 **CHAPTER EIGHT - CLEAR!**

 **》** **CHAPTER NINE** **《**

 _ **LOADING...**_

* * *

 **STATS**

 **MOMUS (LEVEL 35)**

 **WEAPON** : Diabolus (cannot be unequipped)

 **OUTFIT** : Apparently Evil

 **ACCESSORY** : Scarf of Apparent Evil

 **AFFECTION RANKS:** Plutia {4}, Child Neptune {3}, Neptune {3}, Nepgear {3}, Compa {3}, Histoire {3}, Peashy {3}, Noire {2}, Blanc {2}, Vert {2}, MAGES. {2}, Rei Ryghts {2}, IF {1}

 **SP SKILLS:**

\- Dark Edge (Dr)

\- Consuming Shadow (Dr)

\- Shadow Slash (Dr)

 **EXE DRIVE:**

\- Diabolic Devastator (Dr)

\- Dual Darkness (Formation Skill w/Plutia) (Dr) (MenDown)

\- Sword Onslaught (Formation Skill w/Neptune) (Dr) (StrDown)

 **COMMAND SKILLS:**

RUSH: Slash, Sword Slice, Myriad Slash

POWER: Edge Breaker, Wide Arc, Cleave

GUARD BREAK: Down Strike, Upper Slice, Side Strike

EX Finisher: X-Slash, Soul Pierce, Grave Pierce

* * *

 **EXTRA NOTES**

*The mutated spiders deal is a reference to the spider enemies infected with the t-Virus in _Resident Evil_.

*Yet another _Pokémon_ reference.

* _Umineko no Naku Koro ni_ reference.

*Ultra Neptune's SP Skill: _[Raging Rush]_.


End file.
